Elston Howard (1956 – Topps #208)

Elston Gene Howard was a Major League Catcher/Left Fielder, mostly with the New York Yankees (1955 – ’67) with a year and 1⁄2 with the Boston Red Sox (1967 – ’68). While with the Yankees he replaced Yogi Berra as the starting Catcher. Howard won the A. L. MVP Award in 1963 and was a member of 6 World Series Championship Teams. He also was voted to the All Star Team 9 Times (he played in 12 All Star games – there were 2 games/year (1959 – ’61). He won the Golden Glove Award for Catchers twice (1963 & ’64) and his uniform number (#32) has been retired by the Yankees in 1984. Elston Howard has a plaque dedicated to him in Memorial Park, in Center Field, at Yankee Stadium. After his career was over, he coached for the Yankees (1969 – ’79). He died of heart failure in 1980.