As far as 1950's Topps hoped-for star power went, Williams was about as impressive a get as you could wish for at Bush Terminal. You will note the main section of the ledger starts in 1957, which at first struck me as odd since Ted famously kicked of with Topps in 1954 as the alpha and omega of that set after signing with the boys from Brooklyn.
You can see Ted was signed at the end of December 1953 which totally tracks. He had a five-year deal, which also tracks, as his last appearance with Topps as a player was in the 1958 set and he was off to Fleer for 1959. Before that, he was in a real potpourri of issues starting with his 1939 Play Ball card and an R303-A Goudey premium. National releasers Bowman snagged him in 1951 but not in 1952, when he was appearing in the muddy looking Berk Ross set, the more colorful Red Man tobacco offering and on some Star Cal decals (a highly underrated set IMHO). He ended up being recalled by the Marines by the end of April '52 and then was a no show in terms of 1953 cards, except as part of the also underrated Canadian Exhibit set due to a late July mustering out. Topps then snapped him up.
However, a closer look at the upper right corner reveals the story there, and then some. Here, I blew it up for easier eyeballing:
Take a look at the box under SIGNED (K); Ted's Topps deal was arranged through his agent, F.J. Corcoran. Whatever deal Corcoran worked out with Topps must have been exclusive for gum cards and ultimately led to two Jimmy Piersall cards and and no "official" Williams cards for Bowman in 1954, although they certainly sold off what they could in packs once ceased-and-desisted. Corcoran can be considered the one of the first true sports agents - possibly even the first - coming to it through the world of golf, a sport with which Williams was well acquainted. We'll come back to him shortly.
Those five years with Topps saw The Kid lead off three sets (1954, 1957 and 1958) and his time with them was his longest sustained run with any card company. It's also worth noting (again) Williams doesn't have a line entry on the ledger until 1957, when he received $450 from Topps, a significant premium compared to the standard amount of roughly $125 other players made. Although they had a rudimentary system in place already, 1957 was the first year Topps prepared a merchandise catalog for their ballplayers to choose from if they didn't take the offered cash stipend. Ted would be back with Topps as a manager in 1969 but as you can see, he was getting the standard $250 per season for a new contract in effect at that time upon his return, plus the standard $5 in "steak money" for signing. He took the merch thereafter.
Somewhat, but not completely, surprisingly, there was a bit of a wrinkle to all this, namely this letter forwarded by friend o'the Archive Tony DeMarzio, which was sent by Sy Berger to Corcoran memorializing an extension for Williams for 1958. Maybe the ledger card was only created just around that time, or maybe something else was at play, like an option in the original deal. The October 1st date may be significant as the championship season, which may have been how the original agreement referenced duration, ended on September 29th, with the World Series to follow:
As for F.J. Corcoran, he had several other famous baseball players as clients. Of particular interest is Stan Musial, another ballplayer whose past reveals a wide range of regional issues and some on the national stage, capped by a 1953 Bowman card. Stan the Man signed a deal and joined up with Topps around the time Williams was exiting in late 1958, only appearing on an All Star card in the nosebleed section. Topps was so excited, they tripled their fun:
(Courtesy Heritage Auctions)
Musial would have Topps cards every year thereafter until he retired following the 1963 season; given the probable July-ish production date for the '58 highs, he seems like a signee whose previous exclusive contract (with Rawlings, I believe) had just expired. I wonder if he too got a long term deal?
An old auction lot had some enlightening Musial correspondence with Corcoran circa 1950:
An interesting comment within those letters concerned Stan returning a 1950 Bowman contract unsigned, via a letter dated February 26, 1950 . That changed of course but you can also see the Rawlings deal was his most lucrative at the time. He did OK with Wheaties too, and an outfit called Palm Beach (maybe the Florida town?):
I'd really like to track down Musial's Topps player ledger and also dive into his deals via Corcoran, I'll start digging in earnest soon.
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