1952 Topps #5 Larry Jansen Black Back PSA VG-EX 4

1952 Topps #5 Larry Jansen Black Back PSA 4 - The Arm Behind the Giants’ Pennant Run

The 1952 Topps #5 Larry Jansen features one of the most dependable pitchers on the New York Giants clubs of the late 1940s and early 1950s. Jansen had arrived in the majors with a spectacular 21-win rookie season in 1947, and by the time this card appeared, he had already become a fixture in the Giants rotation. His finest campaign came just one year earlier in 1951, when he went 23-11 and helped New York capture one of the most dramatic pennants in baseball history.

Graded PSA VG-EX 4, this example carries the desirable Black Back variation and occupies the #5 position in the landmark 1952 Topps checklist. Jansen’s early placement puts him among the first cards collectors encounter in a set that would ultimately stretch to 407 subjects and become a cornerstone of postwar collecting.

Jansen won 122 games during his nine-year Major League career and twice reached the 20-win mark. He also played a memorable role in the Giants’ 1951 pennant victory: when Bobby Thomson hit the “Shot Heard ’Round the World” to defeat Brooklyn, it was Jansen who had pitched the top of the ninth and became the winning pitcher. The 1952 Topps Larry Jansen Black Back preserves a key member of that legendary Giants team just months after baseball history unfolded around him.