I'm a big fan of the old western TV show The Rifleman. When I get a chance (which is rare to be honest) and I get to watch whatever I want on the tv around here, I'll often put it on On Demand and enjoy several episodes back to back. I don't care if I've seen them before, I just like watching this show.
Chuck Connors plays the role of the Rifleman, Lucas McCain, a single father raising his young son, Mark, on a ranch outside of the fictional town of North Fork in the New Mexico territory in the 1880's. The episodes usually revolve around visitors to the town and how Lucas and Mark get involved in various trouble one way or another.
Well, I had no idea that Chuck Connors was a baseball player before he was an actor. He played in the minors out of college in the early 40's then joined the Army. After he got out of the service he played in the NBA for the Boston Celtics for a short stint, then went back to baseball and played a few seasons in the Brooklyn Dodgers AAA system with the Montreal Royals. He even got to play a game with the Dodgers in the middle there somewhere.
After playing with the Royals, he joined the Chicago Cubs and played 66 games at first base with them in 1951. In 1952 he was back in the minors with the Cubs' Los Angeles Angels team.
While playing in the minors, there were two cards issued of Chuck. The 1950 Big League Stars (V362) is an obscure typecard for most. Here is Chuck's example. He is pictured with the Montreal Royals on this card.
Two years later there was another great card issued of Chuck. This was the 1952 Mother's Cookies issue. Here is Chuck's example of this rare card. He is pictured with the Los Angeles Angels on this card.
These two cards are now on my wantlist for sure but they sell for good money so I likely won't have either for some time. Oh well.
I hope you like these cards as much as I do. I am still amazed at this hobby and learn new things all the time.
Enjoy the hobby all...it's a great one.
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