Tristar Card Show Vintage Bowman

One of the goals I had going in to the Tristar card show was to pick up vintage Redbirds, in particular Bowman Redbirds. I think the issue I had is I got sucked in to so so dime boxes and neglected to look too deep for the Bowman cards on our want list. However, there was one dealer that had a file box full of Bowman and early Topps. I was able to pick a 1949 Bowman (our first), 4 1950 Bowmans, and one 1951 Bowman. The 1949, one of the 1950, and the 1951 were George “Red” Mungers. Red was born and died in Houston  October 4, 1918 & July 23, 1996 he was a right-handed pitcher who was with the Birds 1943-1944 and 1946-1952. Red would then go on to the Bucos for 1952 and 1956. Red had a career win-loss record of 77-56, ERA of 3.83. He was a three time All-Star and pitched a complete game win in the 1946 World Series (Game 4).

Another 1951 Bowman was Max Lanier who was born August 18, 1915 in NC and died in FL in 2007 at 91 years of age. He was a lefty who had a career record of 108-82, and ERA of 3.01. He was with the Cardinals 1938-1946 and again 1949-1951. He was with the Giants 1952-1953, and ended his career in 1953 with the STL Browns. He was a two time All-Star and was the winning pitcher in the 1944 World Series as well as on the World Series Champion 1942 team. He is also the father of Hal Lanier.

Johnny Lindell spent one year (1950) with the Redbirds. Because of hitting (.186), or lack thereof, he was sent to the Bird’s Columbus Redbirds then traded to the Dodgers’ Hollywood Stars minor league team.

 The last 1950 Bowman is of Bill Howerton. Bill was a native of California’s Central Coast and came up with the Birds on September 11th, 1949. He would spend 1949-1951 with the Cardinals but then was traded along with Howie Pollet, Ted Wilks and Joe Garagiola, to the Bucos. He had a lifetime batting average of .274, 22 home runs, and 106 RBIs.

Next up I will posting the Vintage Topps I picked at the show.