Specs Toporcer Stats

Specs Toporcer was born on Thursday, February 9, 1899, in New York, New York. Toporcer was 22 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 13, 1921, with the St. Louis Cardinals. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Specs Toporcer baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"If a frail kid with a slight build, weak eyes and no high school or college training could jump directly from playing sandlot baseball to the big leagues - and stick for seven seasons! - then almost any young player with a passion for the game can do the same thing. I was that kid I'm talking about. My baseball career started when one of my grammar school teachers organized a team of kids. I begged for a chance, but he ignored me because I wore thick glasses and I was small and skinny. No one had ever heard of wearing glasses when you played with a 'hard ball' in those days! But one day only eight players (and I) showed up. The teacher-manager had to use me in the outfield. I made a good catch and a couple of hits. From that day on, I was 'in'." - Toporcer, Specs. Specs Toporcer Turns 90. Berkow, Ira. New York Times Staff Writer. 25 December 1988.

Specs Toporcer

Specs Toporcer Autograph on a American Caramel Company Baseball Card (#NNO)

Specs Toporcer Autograph on a American Caramel Company Baseball Card (#NNO)

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Birth Name:   George Toporcer
Nickname:   Specs
Born On:   02-09-1899  (Aquarius)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   New York, New York
Year of Death Data Died On:   05-17-1989 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Huntington Station, New York
Cemetery:   Melville Cemetery, Melville, New York
High School:   None Attended
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Left   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   5-10½   Player Weight Chart Weight:   165
First Game:   04-13-1921 (Age 22)
Last Game:   06-02-1928
Draft:   Not Applicable

Specs Toporcer

Specs Toporcer Pitching Stats

- - Did Not Pitch - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Specs Toporcer

Specs Toporcer Hitting Stats

1921 22 Cardinals 22 53 4 14 1 0 0 0 2 3 - 4 1 - 0 - .264 .304 .283
1922 23 Cardinals 116 352 56 114 25 6 3 0 36 24 - 18 13 - 2 - .324 .370 .455
1923 24 Cardinals 97 303 45 77 11 3 3 0 35 41 - 14 7 - 3 - .254 .349 .340
1924 25 Cardinals 70 198 30 62 10 3 1 0 24 11 - 14 3 - 4 - .313 .362 .409
1925 26 Cardinals 83 268 38 76 13 4 2 0 26 36 - 15 6 - 2 - .284 .373 .384
1926 27 Cardinals 64 88 13 22 3 2 0 0 9 8 - 9 6 - 2 - .250 .327 .330
1927 28 Cardinals 86 290 37 72 13 4 0 0 19 27 - 16 11 - 1 - .248 .314 .321
1928 29 Cardinals 8 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 - .000 .000 .000
8 Years 546 1,566 223 437 76 22 9 0 151 150 0 93 47 0 14 - .279 .347 .373

Specs Toporcer

Specs Toporcer Fielding Stats

1921 Cardinals 2B 12 11 291 65 5.4 61 24 37 4 6 n/a n/a n/a .938 5.66
1921 Cardinals SS 2 1 24 6 3.0 6 1 5 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 6.75
1922 Cardinals 2B 1 0 3 3 3.0 3 1 2 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 27.00
1922 Cardinals 3B 6 4 84 11 1.8 9 2 7 2 1 n/a n/a n/a .818 2.89
1922 Cardinals RF 1 1 24 3 3.0 2 2 0 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .667 2.25
1922 Cardinals SS 91 72 1,881 441 4.8 414 168 246 27 34 n/a n/a n/a .939 5.94
1923 Cardinals 1B 1 0 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1923 Cardinals 2B 52 49 1,302 309 5.9 292 130 162 17 39 n/a n/a n/a .945 6.06
1923 Cardinals 3B 1 2 27 2 2.0 2 1 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.00
1923 Cardinals SS 33 21 543 146 4.4 139 62 77 7 18 n/a n/a n/a .952 6.91
1924 Cardinals 2B 3 2 24 5 1.7 4 2 2 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .800 4.50
1924 Cardinals 3B 33 30 693 78 2.4 76 22 54 2 2 n/a n/a n/a .974 2.96
1924 Cardinals SS 25 17 450 86 3.4 81 32 49 5 6 n/a n/a n/a .942 4.86
1925 Cardinals 2B 7 6 159 25 3.6 24 8 16 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .960 4.08
1925 Cardinals SS 66 64 1,680 371 5.6 356 141 215 15 40 n/a n/a n/a .960 5.72
1926 Cardinals 2B 27 12 312 58 2.1 57 22 35 1 3 n/a n/a n/a .983 4.93
1926 Cardinals 3B 1 1 27 2 2.0 2 0 2 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.00
1926 Cardinals SS 5 0 13 5 1.0 5 2 3 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 10.38
1927 Cardinals 1B 1 1 24 11 11.0 10 9 1 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .909 11.25
1927 Cardinals 2B 2 0 18 5 2.5 5 3 2 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 7.50
1927 Cardinals 3B 54 52 1,326 147 2.7 144 49 95 3 8 n/a n/a n/a .980 2.93
1927 Cardinals SS 27 17 471 108 4.0 99 37 62 9 13 n/a n/a n/a .917 5.68
1928 Cardinals 1B 1 1 27 10 10.0 10 7 3 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 10.00
1928 Cardinals 2B 1 0 2 5 5.0 5 5 0 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 67.50
SS Totals 249 192 5,062 1,163 4.7 1,100 443 657 63 111 n/a n/a n/a .946 5.87
2B Totals 105 80 2,111 475 4.5 451 195 256 24 51 n/a n/a n/a .949 5.77
3B Totals 95 89 2,157 240 2.5 233 74 159 7 11 n/a n/a n/a .971 2.92
1B Totals 3 2 52 21 7.0 20 16 4 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .952 10.38
RF Totals 1 1 24 3 3.0 2 2 0 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .667 2.25
8 Years 453 364 9,406 1,902 4.2 1,806 730 1,076 96 174 n/a n/a n/a .950 5.18

Specs Toporcer

Specs Toporcer Miscellaneous Stats

1921 Cardinals 1 0 1.000 7 1 n/a 0.0 13.3 26.5 - - -
1922 Cardinals 2 1 .667 25 0 n/a 117.3 19.6 9.8 - - -
1923 Cardinals 4 3 .571 11 1 n/a 101.0 21.6 8.7 - - -
1924 Cardinals 2 3 .400 10 0 n/a 198.0 14.1 8.3 - - -
1925 Cardinals 7 2 .778 9 1 n/a 134.0 17.9 10.3 - - -
1926 Cardinals 1 0 1.000 30 1 n/a 0.0 9.8 9.8 - - -
1927 Cardinals 5 4 .556 8 0 n/a 0.0 18.1 15.3 - - -
1928 Cardinals 0 0 .000 6 0 n/a 0.0 4.7 0.0 - - -
8 Years 22 13 .629 106 4 n/a 174.0 16.8 10.4 - - -

Specs Toporcer

Specs Toporcer Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1921 St. Louis Cardinals n/a Undetermined n/a -
1922 St. Louis Cardinals n/a Undetermined n/a -
1923 St. Louis Cardinals n/a Undetermined n/a -
1924 St. Louis Cardinals n/a Undetermined n/a -
1925 St. Louis Cardinals n/a Undetermined n/a -
1926 St. Louis Cardinals n/a Undetermined n/a Stats
1927 St. Louis Cardinals n/a Undetermined n/a -
1928 St. Louis Cardinals n/a Undetermined n/a -

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Did you know that Specs Toporcer was the first position player to wear glasses when he took the field at second base with the St. Louis Cardinals on April 13, 1921? St. Louis Cardinals executive Branch Rickey recalled the first time he ever saw Specs in person in USA Today Baseball Weekly (Koenig, Bill. USA Today Writer. Spectacular players can wear spectacles. 6 June 1996.), "I watched this kid and saw him take off his glasses and, with his hands outstretched, grope his way along the wall to the showers. My captain turned to me and said, 'For God's sake, who sent him up?'"

Specs Toporcer | Baseball Almanac

1974 Fleer Baseball Card (#11) | Baseball Firsts: Players With Glasses
Baseball Almanac Research Library

Specs Toporcer was featured on a 1974 Fleer Baseball Firsts (#11, pictured above) which paid tribute to his unique baseball first. Three pitchers had appeared on the mound before Specs wearing glasses: Will White, whose astigmatism was certainly no handicap - he won 229 games from 1877 through 1886 (including three 40-win, yes 40-win seasons); Lee Meadows, another right-hander who spent 15 years on the mound with the Cardinals, Phillies and Pirates from 1915 to 1929 and finished with 188 wins; and Carmen Hill, also a righty who had the shortest career of the three, "only" a decade, and had a 20-win season in 1927 (yet only won 49 games across his ten years due to limited starts). Here are a few additional spectacled baseball firsts:

Chick Hafey, the first batting champion (1931) who wore glasses.

Jim Konstanty, the first Most Valuable Player Award (1950) who wore glasses.

Clint Courtney, first catcher (1951) who wore glasses.

Frank Umont, the first Major League umpire (1956) who wore glasses.

A Baseball Pioneer, Specs Toporcer, a superb article written by Fred Lieb which appeared in The St. Petersburg Times on January 13, 1971, had this interesting tidbit (which is why we changed Specs' high school to none attended), "The East Side New York kid, handicapped by nearsightedness, had to go to work after graduating from elementary school in the same class with Jimmy Cagney." It also had this Toporcer inspiring quote, "They put glasses on me when I was a kid in elementary school. Boys with glasses weren't supposed to play baseball in this century, but I always loved the game and quickly showed the kids that despite my specs I could play better than most." And Lieb allowed Toporcer to describe how he made the show:

"It was about this time that Branch Rickey, the Cardinal manager and vice president, started his farm system. He entered into an agreement with Landgraf where he took three of the Syracuse players for a look-see. I was one of the trio and was ordered to report to the Cardinal training camp at Orange, Tex. I got a break, as Milt Stock, the regular St. Louis third baseman, was a determined holdout.

"So throughout that training season, Hornsby played third base and I played every inning of the exhibition season at second. I had a particularly good day against the Philadelphia A's, getting four hits, one a homer. Rickey was pleased with me and invited me to his room the next morning. He offered me a contract for $350 a month, which I quickly signed. Branch didn't know it, but I would have signed for $300 as readily. I continued to hit like crazy, right to the end of the training season.

"Milt Stock finally signed before our opening game in Chicago, and Rickey gave him his old job at third base, but, instead of returning Hornsby to his old spot at second, he kept me there and assigned Hornsby to left field. That setup lasted through our first two series, in Chicago and Cincinnati, and Hornsby proved conclusively that he was no outfielder. The payoff came in our last game in Cincinnati, when Hornsby permitted Dode Paskert to go from first to second after Rog caught a routine fly. I didn't set the world on fire, but didn't do too badly. But, the next day, our home opener in St. Louis, Hornsby was back at second and I was on the bench."