How a Middle-Aged Rookie Got His Card
The 1953 Bobo Newsom rookie card has a lore that has been covered before — it’s the rookie card of a (very) older player, who had become a bit of a punchline despite accomplishing something (200 wins) only 121 other players have managed in their careers.
The front features a weathered Newsom, 46 years old in the summer of 1953 (although his card lists his birth date in 1909, he was really born in 1907), looking more like a manager than a player.
The back, though, gets a little… catty:
“Bobo” is one of the most fabulous characters in diamond history. He holds the record for playing on the most major league teams (9), and has worn the uniform of 6 of the 8 AL teams. A good many of his teammates were in the cradle when he played his first pro game in 1928. He’s a member of the exclusive 200-win club and yet has lost more ball games in the majors than he has won. The A’s signed him in June of ‘52.
A hallmark of the 1953 set was the autograph across the player blurb, and this is where the backstory of the Newsom card gains a little more lore.
Scroll through some old 1952 newspapers and you’ll eventually land on an August 7 story in The Berkshire Eagle (from Pittsfield, MA) by Roger O’Gara about Ameen “Turk” Karam, a 43-year-old scout for the Dodgers who moonlighted for Topps (O’Gara notes that Karam earned as much from the part-time job with Topps as he did scouting for the Dodgers), getting players’ signatures to be featured on the cards.
“The prevailing rate [to pay the players],” O’Gara wrote, “is $100 for a regular or established big-timer, $50 for a rookie or substitute.”
As Karam was making his rounds during the season (mostly getting visiting teams at Ebbets Field), Newsom — who often referred to himself in the third person — gave Karam a hard time about his name not being on a list of signatures needed for cards.
“For 15 years, Bobo gave his signature and didn’t get a dime,” Newsom said. “Now that there’s some money… he’s forgotten. The parade has passed him by.”
Karam felt bad for Newsom and offered the 46 (or 44??) year-old, 200-game winner, the rookie rate of $50, justifying it, according to the story, because “no one knows from week to week what club you’re going to be with.”
And thus was born the Bobo Newsom “rookie” card. It’s still unclear what he claimed he was signing for 15 years for free, as Topps’ baseball cards had just debuted the previous summer, and Newsom didn’t have any cards before… but he does now. And the story behind it should be enough to make you go search for a relatively cheap copy to hug and hold in your collection.
When Newsom passed away in 1962, there were two stories in South Carolina’s “The State” newspaper. One noted that Newsom sent his annual Christmas cards out early because he knew his death (in early December) was imminent. The other, his obituary noted, that for all his quirks, Newsom was a beloved player.
In 1943, Newsom was fined and suspended by Dodgers manager Leo Durocher. The rest of the team threatened not to play until the fine was rescinded and Newsom was reinstated.
“Durocher granted the request,” the obituary noted, “and the Dodgers proceeded to win the next game, 22-3.”
