Project Durham Bulls #55 - Tom Poholsky

1945-1946 Durham Bulls 

Background-

Poholsky started his professional career in Durham with the Bulls after the Red Sox signed him as an amateur free agent.  He pitched two seasons with the Bulls going 5-3 in 1945, and 1-3 in 1946 before the Cardinals drafted him the Red Sox Minor League system.  Poholsky's became a dominant Minor League pitcher after moving over to the Cardinals system.  He won 32 games in 1949 and 1950 pitching for the Cardinals Triple A team the Rochester Red Wings. Poholsky won the International League MVP during the 1950 season as the winner of 18 games.  

Poholsky first appeared for the Cardinals in 1950, but his first full season was in 1951 when he went 7-13 with an ERA of 4.43.  He missed the 1952 and 1953 seasons serving in the Korean War before returning to the Cardinals in 1954.  Poholsky would play for the Cardinals until 1956.  He was traded to the Cubs where he closed out his career in 1957 by going 1-7 with an ERA close to 5.  In his final game in the Majors against the Dodgers in September of 1957, he ended up striking out both Duke Snider and Gil Hodges while working a perfect two innings.  

He retired to suburban St. Louis where he lived with his wife until he died from brain cancer in 2001.  His wife, Dory Poholsky, has been a health care advocate for veterans in the St. Louis area.  

Card-

There are not many Poholsky cards, but they are all in some great sets.  It's hard to go wrong when you are dealing with a bunch of 1950s baseball card sets.  I really like the wood grain TV design on the 1955 Bowman cards.  I had to get this one, but honestly his cards are inexpensive enough that I could probably go back and get a few of his other cards.  Many of them are less than $5, like this one.  There are not a lot of cross over players between my favorite two teams from this era, so I might have to do another post when I pick up some of his other cards.