This 1956 Richie Ashburn Topps Card #120 MLB Philadelphia Phillies is the exact item you will receive and has been certified Authentic by REM Fine Collectibles.
Don Richard Ashburn (March 19, 1927 – September 9, 1997), also known by the nicknames "Putt-Putt", "The Tilden Flash", and "Whitey" (due to his light-blond hair), was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from 1948 to 1962, most prominently as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies where, he was a four-time All-Star player, and was a member of the 1950 National League pennant winning winning team known as the Whiz Kids.
Ashburn was a two-time National League (NL) batting champion and finished with a .308 career batting average. He also excelled as a defensive player, routinely leading the league in putouts. His 5,803 career putouts ranks third among center fielders in Major League Baseball history behind only Willie Mays and Tris Speaker. He ended his playing career with the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets.
Following his playing career, from 1963 until his death in 1997, Ashburn was a broadcaster for the Philadelphia Phillies, and developed into one of the most beloved sports figures in Philadelphia sports history. In 1995, following a lengthy fan-led effort for his inclusion, Ashburn was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1997, he was inducted into The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame and, he was posthumously inducted into the inaugural class of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
The 1956 Topps Baseball set consists of 340 cards, each measuring 2-5/8" by 3-3/4”. The set was quite similar in design to the prior year’s entry, that full-color artwork that features each player "In Action" adjacent to his portrait – with some portraits identical to those used not only in 1955 but also 1954. The player's name and team affiliation appear at the top left corner. The 1956 Topps also includes team cards introduced as part of a regular set, two unnumbered checklist cards as well as cards representing league presidents William Harridge and Warren Giles. The set is packed with baseball talent from the mid-1950s, and is anchored by the likes of Ted Williams (#5), Ernie Banks (#15), Hank Aaron (#31), Roberto Clemente (#33), Sandy Koufax (#79), Willie Mays (#130), Mickey Mantle (#135), Bob Feller (#200) and Whitey Ford (#240). The set marked the return of Mantle, Feller and Ford to the Topps family, as all had been fulfilling earlier baseball card contracts. Card backs for #s 1-180 can be found with either white or gray cardboard, with collectors leaning toward the gray backs for cards #1-100 and white backs from #101-180.