Johnny Hetki and Gene Stephens Returns

Now that finals are over, I finally have time to get caught up.  A couple of returns for my 1953 Topps project came in recently: #235 Johnny Hetki arrived on 4/30 after about two weeks, and #248 Gene Stephens came in a couple days later.  I had sent it on 11/18, so just under 6 months.

Gene Stephens is suffering from Alzheimer's, which I can see from his signature; it looks almost nothing like the facsimile on the back.  When he came up, the Red Sox were grooming him to be Dom DiMaggio's replacement but he had a hitch in his swing that prevented that.  Johnny Hetki was nearing the end of the line when this card came out: the following season was his last in the majors.  He hung around with Toronto, then a minor league team, for a couple more years but never made it back.  There seem to be a lot of Pirates in the high numbers (#221-280).  Not sure why that is.