The 1953 Topps baseball card #246 features legendary Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Lemon. Considered one of the greatest pure sinkerball pitchers of all-time, Lemon enjoyed a Hall of Fame career that spanned from 1946 to 1958 between the Indians and Chicago White Sox.
Born in 1920 in Columbus, Georgia, Lemon grew up a huge baseball fan and pitcher Bob Feller was his childhood idol. Lemon began his pro career in 1940 in the minor leagues and spent 1941-1942 serving in the U.S. Navy during World War 2. He made his MLB debut with Cleveland in 1946 at the age of 26.
In his rookie season of 1946, Lemon went 16-11 with a 3.23 ERA in 38 games for the Indians. He immediately established himself as a workhorse, tossing 242 innings that year. In 1947, Lemon lowered his ERA to 2.50 and won 19 games to help lead the Indians to an American League Pennant. They lost the World Series to the New York Yankees that year.
1948 was Lemon’s breakout season as he went 23-7 with a 2.50 ERA and led the AL in wins and winning percentage. His performance that season and reliability marked the beginning of his dominance on the mound and reputation as an ace for Cleveland. Lemon finished third in AL MVP voting that year behind two teammates.
The 1949 season saw Lemon match his win total from the previous year at 23, despite a slight dip in ERA to 2.90. He continued pacing the Indians staff and keeping them competitive regularly throughout the late 1940s. Lemon was selected to the All-Star team for the first time in 1950 after going 19-11 with a 2.50 ERA in 41 games for Cleveland.
The 1951 season was arguably Lemon’s finest as he won 23 games against just 10 losses and led the AL with 328 innings pitched. His stellar 1.91 ERA that year is among the lowest single-season ERAs in baseball history and helped propel the Indians to the AL pennant. They lost the World Series in six games to the mighty New York Yankees once again. Lemon’s dominance on the mound that year earned him the American League MVP Award.
The 1952 season saw Lemon go 17-11 with a solid 2.50 ERA, but injuries began slowing him down more each year. In 1953, the year of his Topps baseball card, Lemon finally began to show his age at 33 years old. He slumped to a 10-13 record with a 3.86 ERA in 35 games before being traded to the Chicago White Sox during the 1954 season. In his final seasons, Lemon was no longer able to carry the heavy workload he had as Cleveland’s ace for nearly a decade.
After retiring from baseball following the 1958 season spent mostly in a relief role for the White Sox, Lemon’s career totals included 207 wins against 127 losses in 554 games started. His lifetime 3.23 ERA ranks among the best for pitchers of his era. Lemon was later inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame in 1982 and the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976, recognizing his storied career and dominance in his prime years pitching for Cleveland.
The 1953 Topps card #246 perfectly captures Lemon during the apparent downturn late in his career with the Indians. By that point, arm injuries and age had slowed him from the hard-throwing ace he was in the late 1940s. But the card serves as an important reminder of Lemon’s Hall of Fame caliber achievements established earlier that made him one of the best pitchers in baseball for nearly a decade in Cleveland. His pitching excellence propelled the Indians to success and playoff appearances in the late 1940s, though World Series titles eluded them. Lemon left an indelible mark on baseball and the Cleveland franchise and cemented his place among the games all-time greats.
