1959 Fleer Ted Williams From the Mansfield Show

The final of the 4 recap posts of Monday's Mansfield card show is showing off one of the most impressive hauls I've ever brought home from a card show, and for a good price too. As I was looking around at the show looking for something to catch my eye, I found a vendor who was selling a bunch of 1959 Fleer Ted Williams cards. He stated that he would be willing to take a few dollars off each one, and so the cards of my choice would be available for 4-7 dollars each.

I called my dad over to see what he thought of the deal and to decide which cards to get. He agreed that these cards of Williams, possibly the greatest hitter to ever play the game, were available for too good of a price to pass up. So, we decided to go for the ones that seemed to most interesting to us like this one titled "Sox Miss Out Again" and the back of the card explains how. The Red Sox lost the pennant to the Yankees on the last day of the 1949 season, for the 2nd year in a row. The cards with multiple pictures like this one and the card at the top of the post were the ones that caught my eye and caused me to appreciate them enough to choose them over other card options.

I also really liked how well the action-shot cards looked, especially considering they were made in 1959. The quality is truly superb and images like this make the cards look like paintings on the wall. The details like the grass and the dirty as well as Williams' jersey were very well created by Fleer, especially in the case of Ted's All-Star hero card that commemorates his walk-off home run in the 1941 All-Star game.

It was hard to make the decision on which cards to choose and which cards not to choose, but I knew that I wanted cards that caught my attention and that I instantly noticed. This included the 2 cards above, each of which has a detailed background. Each of these 2 cards also pays tribute to a significant event in Ted's career. Those are the types of cards I liked the best, which made them the ones I wanted to choose.

But without a doubt, my favorite part of the 1959 Ted Williams set are cards like this. Not every card commemorates a baseball accomplishment, this one pays tribute to another very important part of Ted's career, his serving in the Navy during World War 2. He was also in the Marines during his lifetime. His service to the country off the field earned him a card in an insert set back in 2007 Topps called Distinguished Service. He was also given this card in the 1959 Fleer Ted Williams set that instantly became my favorite. He had dozens of accomplishments in baseball, but he also did a lot to serve the country, sacrificing 3 years of his prime to serve in the military. That's an example of the person he was, and I'm glad he was given the credit he deserves in cards like this one.