Project Durham Bulls #56 - Ben Chapman

1950 Durham Bulls 

Background-

I wrote a bit about Chapman a few weeks back while I was working on some 1950s cards of former Durham Bulls players.  I am not going to rehash the whole post, but Chapman has sort of a dubious history in the game for some of his on field antics.  As a player, he was one of the greatest trash talkers of all-time.  As a manager, he was noted for his clashes with Jackie Robinson while he was managing the Phillies in the late 1940s.  

The Bulls had been managed by former Duke baseball/football star, also Pro Football Hall of Famer, as a player manager during the 1949 season.  I am not sure exactly why Chapman was brought in to manage the Bulls in 1950, they were the Tigers Carolina League affiliate, but he led them to a 74-78 season before departing for a job managing in a Minor League team in Florida.  Chapman would not last much longer in baseball, leaving the sport in the mid 1950s to sell insurance in Alabama.  

Card-

This is from the 1935 Diamond Stars set.  I know it's a really old card, the type that I do not post on here very often.  I am fairly certain that I have a few Cardinals and Browns cards from this set that I picked up somewhere, at some point, for not very much.  Chapman is likely the best card that I have from this set.  

Here is the back of the card.  

 I do not mind its imperfections, this is just a good classic baseball card.  There is a crease along the bottom, the corners are rounded, and I would not have it any other way.