1961 Topps #5, Johnny Ramano

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Johnny Romano's 1961 Topps card #5 is
shown here, front and back:

http://home.triad.rr.com/ovis/images/Romano-5.jpg

http://home.triad.rr.com/ovis/images/Romano-5b.jpg

Johnny (or sometimes John) Romano had one
of the weirdest nicknames. He was called,
"Honey"!! Where this name came from is
bound to be an interesting story which, I'm
sorry to say, I don't know.

Johnny came up with the White Sox in 1958,
but only appeared in 4 games that year. He
had the unfortunate lot of being a backup
catcher to Sherm Lollar. 1959 was not any
better, as he was only in 53 games that year.

I love the middle cartoon on the back of this
card. It says, "He appeared as a pinch-
hitter with the White Sox in the 1959 World
Series". What it doesn't say is that he made
an out, and promptly sat down!!

His luck did improve when prior to the 1960
season, he was traded to the Indians. He
played in twice as many games in '60, and
then 142 games in 1961, the year of this card.

He hit for an average on .299 in '61, 8th best
in the league, and was selected to the All-Star
team. He was again selected to the All-Star
team in 1962, but only played in the first of
the two All-Star games that year.

He stayed with Cleveland through the '64
season, and was traded back to the White
Sox before the 1965 season. He played
with them in '65 and '66, and was again
traded, this time to the Cardinals where
he spent the 1967 season, his last.

Johnny struggled with his weight most
of his career, and is said to have shown
up at spring training one year 30 pounds
overweight.

Still, Johnny Romano was good enough
to be listed as the 73rd best catcher of
all time by Bill James in his book, "The
New Bill James Historical Baseball
Abstract". It may seem like damning
him with faint praise, but there have
been a boatload of catchers who have
played Major League Baseball over the
years.

Johnny ended up with a lifetime batting
average of .255
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John Wade

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I, of course, misspelled his name in
the header. It should be "Romano".
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John Wade

On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 03:16:05 GMT, John Wade wrote:

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Johnny Romano's 1961 Topps card #5 is
shown here, front and back:

http://home.triad.rr.com/ovis/images/Romano-5.jpg

http://home.triad.rr.com/ovis/images/Romano-5b.jpg

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I also like the fact the Johnny is doing his best
batting pose in a parking lot!!

Ya gotta love it!!

There is something else unique about this card.
No, not the big puffy jacket he's wearing under-
neath his jersey. I believe he is the only player
in this set who is wearing a batting glove.
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John Wade

He was called,
"Honey"!! Where this name came from is
bound to be an interesting story which, I'm
sorry to say, I don't know.
Maybe they called him honey cause he was gay?