Out of Order

The Disorderly Dozen

As explained on the Football card numbers page, Post arranged the players by card number mostly in alphabetic order with the players near the front of the alphabet being assigned lower numbers than those nearer the end. There were twelve players whose cards were out of alphabetic order within their teams. One might debate whether there were thirteen as Darris McCord preceded Jim Martin. It seems that back in those days sometimes students were taught that Mc was alphabetized before Ma. Yet other alphabetizing rules of the period seemed not to follow that convention. Later in the set, Tommy Mason precedes Hugh McElhenny so Post was inconsistent no matter which way they intended to do it. It's doubtful that these cards were truly out of order and they are not counted in the twelve cards out of sequence.

#45 Ed Khayat was the last Eagles card and followed #44 Chuck Weber. John Wittenborn was the only player on the 1961 Eagles roster alphabetically after Chuck Weber. Wittenborn, who played offensive guard and was also a kicker, was traded to the Eagles from the 49ers after four games of the 1960 season. He was with the Eagles through the 1962 season. It is not known if Wittenborn was intended to be the original #45. Post also had the last player on a team out of order two or possibly three other times leading to the thought that they may have intentionally left that slot open to fill at the last minute with a player of their choice.

#66 Gene Hickerson was placed between #65 Mike McCormack and #67 Bob Mitchell. Mitchell's card had its own issues as he was traded to Washington in December, 1961 and was assigned an asterisk. There was one player who fell alphabetically between McCormack and Mitchell—Cleveland Browns veteran linebacker Walt Michaels who retired in early April 1962 and signed on as assistant coach with the Oakland Raiders. Michaels was a five-time Pro Bowl selection and seemingly would have been a choice Post would have made for the football promotion. Though Michaels announced retirement had actually come a few days after Post's deadline for finalizing the players in the set, the Associated Press had reported on February 21, 1962 that Michaels was contemplating retirement to take the Raiders coaching offer. One can surmise that Post was ready to replace Michaels with future Hall of Famer Gene Hickerson in early April, if they had not already done so before Michaels official retirement announcement.

#74 Sam Baker came between #73 Jim Ray Smith and #75 Paul Wiggin. The two players on the 1961 Browns roster who were alphabetically between Smith and Wiggin were offensive lineman Larry Stephens and running back Tom Watkins. Stephens ended up being traded to the Rams in July 1962. Watkins, who was part of the big trade between the Lions and Browns at the end of March 1962, was a rookie who saw limited action in 1961. Maybe Watkins was the original choice for #74 and after he was traded, Post opted to to replace him with the veteran Baker, even though Baker had been traded at the end of December 1961.

#93 Dave Baker, as noted in the Scarcity section of this website, is the rarest and most expensive card in the set. Dave Baker was first alphabetically on the 49ers 1961 roster, even though #91 Bruce Bosley and #92 John Brodie were assigned numbers lower than Baker. The method by which Dave Baker was assigned #93 is documented on the Numbers Assignment Chart page. Recapping, Baker was drafted by the Army for a two year stint as reported in the San Mateo Times on March 23, 1962 just days before Post finalized the list of players they would use in the 1962 football card promotion. Dave Baker was a star defensive back, making the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 1959. Over his three year career that extended through 1961, Baker intercepted 21 passes in just 38 games. After his two year Army stint was up, rather than return to the NFL, he became Southern Nazarene University's first Athletic Director and built an athletic program from scratch. He never played pro football again. Post chose to leave Baker in the set, but moved him up two slots from #91 to #93. Then they swapped the numbering position of the Grape Nuts 11 and 16 oz. boxes and purposely skipped assigning one slot between the first and second Grape Nuts 11 oz. boxes. The result was that Sam Baker and Dave Baker ended up on the same Grape Nuts panel—the cereal product with the lowest production numbers. The conclusion could be drawn that Sam Baker, having been traded, and Dave Baker, having been drafted into the Army, were placed together on the low-volume product as neither one was likely to be highly desired by the kids who were the target of Post's football card promotion. As the numbering process continued, Dave Baker would intentionally be moved again to an Oat Flakes 10 oz. box—the second lowest volume product in the Post cereal lineup.

#134 Glynn Gregory was the first of the Dallas Cowboys' cards. Gregory preceded Frank Clarke, so the players on the Cowboys roster alphabetically before Clarke were Gene Babb, Bob Bercich, Dick Bielski, Don Bishop, Nate Borden and Byron Bradfute. Don Bishop was the only one of the six players who played a regular season game with the Cowboys in 1962, though all six players were in the 1962 Cowboys training camp meaning that they could have been chosen by Post to be the first card. Bishop intercepted eight passes in 1961 and started all 14 games, while Gregory didn't start any games, caught three passes and intercepted one. Gregory would have been a player about equivalent to the five other than Bishop, so choosing Gregory over those players doesn't seem too strange. Why Post would choose Gregory over Bishop may have come down to a photography issue.

#146 J. W. Lockett did not join the Cowboys until after the second week of the 1961 regular season. His photo was, along with many other Cowboys, taken at Burnett Field where the Cowboys practiced. Jerry Tubbs was card #145 immediately preceding Lockett. As with the Eagles last card, #45 Ed Khayat, the last Cowboys card number may have been left open to fill with a player of Post's choice.

#154 Larry Wilson was last alphabetically on the 1961 Cardinals roster. However, his card was slotted in between #153 Bill Koman and #155 Dale Meinert. The players between those two alphabetically were Dick Lage, Monte Lee, Ron McDole, Mike McGee, Hugh McInnis and Ernie McMillan. Lage played one game in October 1961 and never played in an NFL game after that. Monte Lee was property of the Philadelphia Eagles until September 13, 1961 and would have missed training camp photos, but could have been available for the Busch Stadium shots. Ron McDole started 13 games in 1961 switching from defense to offense during the season. Mike McGee played left guard and started 13 of 14 games and was continuously on the Cardinals roster through the end of March 1961. McInnis injured his knee during the third regular season game of 1961 and missed the rest of the season. He was rumored to be joining the Canadian Football League in February 1962, but remained with the Cardinals and played in 1962. Ernie McMillan was a highly rated rookie in 1961 and was called to active military duty after only six games that season. He was released from service shortly before training camp in 1962. McMillan would seem to be the logical choice as Post's pick for #154. The uncertainty of his military service may have prompted a change.

#156 Ed Henke was in Cardinals training camp for 1961, so he should have been available for a Post cereal photo at that time. Henke followed #155 Dale Meinert and came before #157 Sonny Randle. Players on the 1961 Cardinals roster who fell alphabetically between Meinert and Randle were Dale Memmelaar, Frank Mestnik, Jerry Norton, Don Owens, Luke Owens, Ken Panfil and Gerry Perry. Memmelaar played eight games before spending the rest of the season in military service. Frank Mestnik injured a foot in 1961 and missed much of the season. Jerry Norton was reported by the Associated Press in March 1962 to have retired. Both Don and Luke Owens played all 14 games in 1961 and were on the Cardinals roster again in 1962. Panfil was injured and played only three games in 1961. Perry was a lineman and kicker who played in both 1961 and 1962. Jerry Norton may have been Post's pick and when he retired in March 1962, Post replaced him with Henke.

#158 Ralph Guglielmi followed #157 Sonny Randle and preceded #159 Joe Childress who was also out of sequence. Guglielmi had been traded to the Cardinals on September 12, 1961. Players on the roster alphabetically between Randle and Wilson, who was last, were Tom Redmond, Joe Robb, Bill Stacy and Willie West. Redmond started the one game in 1961 that Mike McGee was injured. Joe Robb was acquired in early July 1961 and played for several years with the Cardinals. Bill Stacy played from 1959-1963 with the Cardinals without roster issues. Willie West played for the Cardinals in 1961 as a defensive back and punt returner, starting no games. Either Robb or Stacy would seem to have been Post's original choice.

#159 Joe Childress' photo was taken in training camp as opposed to those of Wilson, Henke and Guglielmi who had their Post cereal photos shot at Busch Stadium sometime after September 12, 1961. Childress had injured a knee in 1961 and missed most of the season. Return from knee injuries was more uncertain in 1961 than in later years after surgeries were improved. Childress' knee was reported as rounding into shape by the Chicago Tribune on March 28, 1961. Childress may have been somebody for whom Post reserved the last Cardinals slot as was possibly done with Khayat and Lockett.

The Cardinals had four players with photographs taken in Busch Stadium and nine with pictures made in training camp. The four in Busch Stadium were Gautt, Wilson, Henke and Guglielmi. Only Guglielmi was not available for a training camp photo. Why did Post use portrait style Busch Stadium photos instead of the posed action training camp brand that were used in about 95% of the rest of the photos for the set? As discussed on the Conclusions page for the Photographer section of this website, there was some sort of issue with Cardinals photos such that some non-action shots were used. Maybe some of the training camp photos were lost or did not develop properly. Whatever the reason, it may have also led to some of the original player card number assignments being radically changed.

#187 Bill Bishop was the last Vikings player in the Post cereal card set. Bishop followed Frank Youso who was alphabetically last on the roster in 1961. As with Khayat, Tubbs and likely Childress, Post probably left the last slot open to fill as late as possible in their card number assignment process. Ironically, Bishop decided to retire before the 1962 season, but after Post had already selected him.

#194 Fred Dugan may have replaced Ray Lemek who was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers for John Nisby in late March 1962. Alphabetically, Lemek fell between #193 Joe Krakoski and #195 John Paluck. Others who were alphabetically between Krakoski and Paluck were Dick Lasse, Don Lawrence, Lew Luce, Riley Mattson, Fran O'Brien and Tom Osborne. Luce quit football on October 13, 1961. Lasse, Lawrence, Mattson and O'Brien were all in training camp with the Redskins in 1962, so any of them could have possibly been Post's original choice. The selection could also have been future Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne who retired sometime before training camp to become an assistant coach with the Cornhuskers. Lemek seems to be the logical choice based on the late date which he was traded related to Post's player card number assignment deadline. Apparently Dugan's photo was readily available to replace the original choice.