In Honor of a Hometown Hero
A small-town baseball card shop starts a life-long collection
It was the summer of 1983 and my small hometown of Cheraw, SC had its first Baseball Card Shop. Granted, at that time Lewis Crafts and Collectibles had as much of the former as it did the latter but that didn’t stop us. It was an honest-to-goodness card shop - you could buy wax packs, rack packs, boxes, complete sets, single cards, and my favorite - old cards. I’ve always loved the look of vintage cards and I’m fairly certain I could trace that love back to those days of staring at those display cases, gawking at the cards of baseball royalty.
One day I took my Dad in, introducing him to my latest hobby and one of my new favorite places in town. I watched in amazement as my Dad became a kid again, remembering cards of his childhood - Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and others. But I was completely perplexed as we got to another display case and heard my Dad let out an audible gasp as he exclaimed “There’s Tom!” Mr. Lewis, the owner, chuckled and asked my Dad, “ When’s the last time you saw one of those?” Then I noticed that there were several cards of Tom Brewer on display. Although at that time I was by no means a baseball history buff, I had a decent knowledge of the sport’s past, especially as it related to my beloved cardboard. But I had never heard of Tom Brewer, so I asked who he was. Dad asked to see one of the cards (a beautiful 1959 Topps) and after looking at it for several seconds, he handed it to me and said “Read the back.”
That’s when I saw it - “Hometown: Cheraw, SC”.
What?!? There had been a baseball player from Cheraw? And he had baseball cards? I was floored. Suddenly, Cheraw didn’t seem as small. Brewer pitched for the Boston Red Sox from 1954 to 1961, enjoying a career best season in 1956 when he went 19-9 and was selected as an All-Star, as well as placing 22nd in AL MVP voting. Not bad for a guy from little ol’ Cheraw.
I left that day with that ‘59 Topps card but I had little idea that it was the beginnings of a life-long collection. Getting all of Tom’s Topps cards was relatively easy and inexpensive (except for that pesky 1955 Doubleheader, where he’s shown with Warren Spahn) but it’s been great fun over the years getting some of the other items from Tom’s career.
I’ve been fortunate to expand my Tom Brewer collection over the years, adding wire photos, magazines and programs, and even a Dubow signature model glove, among other items. But perhaps my greatest addition was meeting Mr. Brewer and sharing some of my collection with him. On March 21, 2009 Cheraw High School named its baseball field Tom Brewer Field in honor of the lifelong resident and longtime pitching coach and supporter and I was fortunate to attend. As Mr. Brewer looked through some of my collection, recalling specific times and events, I saw a smile slowly come across his face and I was reminded of that afternoon years before, watching my Dad recalling his childhood baseball cards. I think they’re both probably similar to the smile I get when I’m looking at my Tom Brewer collection.
I’m always on the lookout for unique (non-cards) items featuring Tom Brewer. If you have a lead on any of these please contact me using the button below.
Awesome! Love the stories about small hometown sports legends. Charley Trippi and Jimmy Cefalo were great football players from my hometown of Pittston, PA. Was happy to meet Charley Trippi once. Hope to meet Jimmy Cefalo at some point. My wife lived in a very small town of Swoyersville, PA. At one point the NFL had 3 active players from that town. Crazy! Love the passion for collecting and keeping the memories alive too! Good stuff!
Nice story!