[Eric72]

Be honest, would you have guessed that Tommy Carroll finished his career with a .300 batting average? Granted, Carroll only played in a total of 64 games and collected only 30 at-bats. Still, not many players have compiled that magical lifetime mark.

His 1956 Topps card offers many interesting details which caught my eye, For starters, there's the background image. Take a look at Carroll's right foot. It certainly makes me wonder what took place the instant after this photo was taken. This fairly normal looking infield scene may very well have turned quite chaotic.

Aside from a potential kick-to-the-groin, there are some other things that I noticed on the card front which weren't in any of the other cards I have seen thus far. Carroll seems to have either run or slid so hard that his cap fell off. Now, this is a common scene in the game, especially when the runner in question is a teenager - Carroll was 19 years old when this issue was released. However, I simply had not yet sen a '56 Topps card depicting it.

Another thing that struck me as odd was the bill of Tommy Carroll's cap. In the portrait image, it appears much smaller than those worn by other players. In a way, it seems reminiscent of the caps worn by players in the 19th and early 20th centuries.