Piercing the 1930s Sea of Sameness with Oscar Melillo

People who pursue sets between the world wars notice a certain unwelcome consistency to what's on offer. Some 1930s companies recycled their limited number of images, year by year, tweaking things just enough to keep their gum moving. Even 90+ years later, hobby malaise can set in.

Think about spending hundreds on this top-tier HOFer. "How do I feel about such similarity? Are two cards twice as good as owning one? Half as good?"

When kids opened penny gum packs in spring 1934, they found a familiar Foxx pose, as Goudey copied series one (#1-24) from existing 1933 cards. You can imagine the childish frustration over these retreads, which would suit crosstown competitor National Chicle, whose Diamond Stars Gum offered fresher images in an Art Deco style.

Chicle and Goudey each put star Lefty Grove in their first series, a predictable way for two Massachusetts companies to recognize the key Red Sox offseason acquisition. Goudey, perhaps chastened by complaints, changed direction after #24. Their checklist for #25-96 looks like what we now call an "update set" of lesser-known guys and roster changes. Jason Schwartz wrote a lot more about this at SABR's card blog. It included someone they left out of 1933's 240-card set, Oscar Melillo.

1934 Goudey Big League Gum #45

Let's track this popular 1930s second baseman through his lookalike collectibles and rank the best choices for those who like their prewar on a budget. Our first option isn't even a card!

1933 Gum, Inc. Double Header Pins (PX3)

Gum, Inc., who later made 1939-41 Play Ball cards, started in baseball with metal medallions that were meant to be paired front-to-back, hence the name "Double Header." An unopened pack, perhaps unique to our hobby, sold in 2011 via REA.

Their medals cropped Oscar to face alone. He looks friendlier here than on your other 1933 choice, DeLong Gum, a small set published by Goudey's former treasurer, Harold DeLong.

1933 DeLong Play Ball Gum (R333) #3

Metal coin sets remain a gray area and hard to recommend when other options remain. This set's drab and little-known in our hobby.

Cost: As of writing, eBay sellers ask $60-200 Buy-It-Now for graded PX3 coins (example search).

1934 Goudey Big League Gum (R320)

Oscar's first Goudey card shows DeLong design influence with its sketched grass and cartoon diamond. Its photo expands what Gum, Inc. put on its coin to show his batting follow-through and classic bloused uniform.

Oscar played every day at a key position, second base, so it's a mystery why Goudey left him off 1933's set. Just nine Browns got cards that year, well below average for a 240-card set covering 16 teams. The crosstown Cardinals got 14 and Rogers Hornsby appears for each squad thanks to his move from Cardinals player to Browns player-manager in late July.

Cost: 1934 commons like Oscar run ~$5-10 in low grades.

1934 O-Pee-Chee/Butterfinger Premiums (V94)

Here's our prizewinning "complete view" of Oscar, the Oscar for Oscar, at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Canadian card maker O-Pee-Chee produced a handful of 1930s baseball sets and V94 stands out for its photo quality and size (6.5" x 8.5").

I think earlier cards cropped away Oscar's background to remove those teammates running sprints.

Cost: It's easy to damage OPC's thin paper stock and most surviving examples are low grade. Common players start about $10 and go up fast for stars and HOFers.

1934-36 National Chicle Diamond Stars Gum (1935 series)

Chicle expanded their Diamond Stars Gum checklist to 84 cards for 1935 and used Oscar's now-familiar pose at #53.

Some Chicle cards include buildings from their player's town, as on #5 Tommy Bridges, so that could be a real 1930s St. Louis structure. If you recognize it, let us know in the comments!

Cost: Diamond Stars commons crept up in recent years, so expect to spend $10 or more, even in low grade.

1935 Goudey Big League Gum (R321)

Goudey re-cropped Oscar's larger image for this 4-panel layout. Each card required an original (small) painting in those days, so reusing art saved them time and money.

The Browns sent Melillo to Boston in a splashy mid-1935 trade, more details below, so this card preceded that move.

Cost: As with Chicle cards, Goudey also crept up of late and even those with four common players like this run $15 or more.

1935 Goudey Premiums (R309-2)

Prewar collectors might recall Goudey offered mail-in premiums for 1933 and 1934 that include this famous Babe Ruth image.

1933 R309-1 Babe Ruth with mail-in promotional strip

Goudey switched to black-and-white photos on thin paper as an in-store loyalty program for 1935. They packed these premiums with Big League Gum shipments and kids would swap empty wrappers back to the pack seller for their preferred photo. The fifteen known R309-2 premiums cover just five metro areas (New York, Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Washington), with good odds each city received premiums for its local guys.

R309-2 contains three composite photos, Boston, Cleveland, and Washington. Their Red Sox premium shows our Melillo pose and pitcher George Pipgras, who used the same base photo as 1933 Goudey.

1933 Goudey Big League Gum #12, George Pipgras

Melillo and Pipgras make an intriguing combo for this Red Sox composite, considering Boston's mid-1935 team transactions.

Baseball-Reference.com's 1935 Red Sox transactions (excerpt)

Does this mean Goudey printed their Red Sox composite in that one-week window? I bet they just added Oscar following his trade and failed to remove George when released, dating Boston's R309-2 to "sometime after May 27."

Goudey also gave Oscar a personal photo and tweaked the cap to "B," as Beantown expected great things on his arrival. Melillo delivered excellent defense and modest hitting, holding down second base until Bobby Doerr's much-hyped arrival in 1937. This feeds Melillo into Doerr's own significance to Goudey's unusual 1938 "Heads Up" set.

Cost: R309-2s prove scarce, so availability means more than price. I'd pay $20-25 for common, low-grade players.

Summary: "...and the Oscar goes to..."

What did you think of all these sets based on one Melillo image? This happens often with 1930s players and can cut into your enjoyment as a collector. I think four float atop this sea of sameness.

1. Diamond Stars Gum for balanced art quality, availability, and hobby familiarity. This set produced a lot of best-of-career player cards.
2. OPC/Butterfinger for its big, detailed images. Rank this first if display quality matters most to you.
3. 1934 Goudey is comparable to Diamond Stars, if lesser in image quality most of the time.
4. R309-2 Goudey remains interesting, if tough to find. OPC/Butterfinger looks better and you avoid competing with team collectors over a scarce issue, the Red Sox composite in particular.

Hope you enjoyed Oscar's parade in (St. Louis) brown and red (Sox). If you'd go after something else in this situation, sound off below!

Goudey's 1934 Big League Gum Baseball Trivia

This post isn't trivia about a 1934 Goudey baseball set. This post is trivia FROM a 1934 Goudey baseball set. Already deep into that year's release, the company's designers added some late-season Q-and-A to their follow-up on 1933's successful debut, perhaps to spice up what was otherwise a parade of marginal players. (That's one reason I consider 1934 an "update" to 1933; more details in A Closer Look at 1933-34 Big League Gum.)

1934 Big League Gum #73-96 sheet + "1933" Lajoie

Goudey published several "series" of Big League Gum cards in 1934, four runs of 24 players each, for 96 cards total. The above 5x5 card sheet comprised that final group, #73-96, with an extra spot for the "1933" #106 Nap Lajoie (green background near upper-right).

Goudey often switched numbers between series to leave gaps, hoping kids would buy more cards to fill them, but #73-96 looks to be all there. (Perhaps they realized there wouldn't be a fifth series to swap numbers with.)

1934 Big League Gum #73, Ed Wells

One can guess that a fourth run of cards would come out mid-season, but Goudey's inclusion of trivia questions, some from 1934 itself, narrows the release window to "post-May" and perhaps after that year's All-Star Game on July 10th. Let's start with its first card, Ed Wells, and flip him over to find this question.

Hall of Fame manager John McGraw passed away in early 1934, so this question's a tribute of sorts. It's pretty esoteric to know who he "turned down," though. Big League Gum #85, Adam Comorosky, has the answer, or at least the factual part of it.

OK, McGraw didn't get every call right. But according to Giants team historians, he passed sight-unseen on the Cooperstown talent of Lefty Grove thanks to bad feelings over missing out on Babe Ruth in 1914. The moral: don't hold grudges, kids.

Each of the first twelve cards in that series (#73-84, all American Leaguers) asked a question answered by the final twelve (#85-96, all National Leaguers). Singles from the whole series are scarce and it's a pricy proposition to acquire all 24, so here's its full trivia list for hobby posterity, with relevant notes and links.

• #73 Ed Wells, Q: What pitcher was turned down by John McGraw?
• #85 Adam Comorosky, A: Lefty Grove in 1926

• #74 Bob Boken, Q: Who was the most consistent base-stealer last year? [i.e., 1933]
• #86 Lloyd Johnson, A: Pepper Martin, 26 out of 35

Martin's 26 thefts led the NL, earning him a "most consistent" title. Today, we might pin that on the guy who stole bases at the highest percentage of success above a certain threshold.

• #75 Bill Werber, Q: Who struck out the greatest number of times last year? [1933]
• #87 George Darrow, A: Jimmy [sic] Foxx, Philadelphia A's, 93

• #76 Hal Trosky, Q: What NL player has already played in over 2000 contests?
• #88 Homer Peel, A: Frankie Frisch of the St. Louis Cardinals

• #77 Joe Vosmik, Q: Who hit into the first triple play this year? [i.e., 1934]
• #89 Linus Frey, A: Irv Jeffries, Phillies vs. Braves, off Frankhouse May 29th [box score]

That May 29th "triple play game" dates Goudey's fourth series to June, if not later.

• #78 Pinky Higgins, Q: Who has the highest lifetime batting average?
• #90 Ki-Ki Cuyler, A: Ty Cobb .370 [still MLB's all-time leader; correct figure is .366]

• #79 Eddie Durham, Q: What noted player has taken part in the most World Series games?
• #91 Dolph Camilli, A: Babe Ruth, 41 games [now Yogi Berra, 75]

• #80 Marty McManus, Q: What was the longest game ever played?
• #92 Steve Larkin, A: Brooklyn & Boston 1920, 1-1 tie in 26 innings [still the record; box score]

• #81 Bob Brown, Q: What was the greatest number of scoreless innings pitched last year and who pitched them?
• #93 Fred Ostermueller, A: 46 innings by Carl Hubbell, July 13th - August 1, 7 games

• #82 Bill Hallahan, Q: Who holds the modern major league batting record for a single season?
• #94 Red Rolfe, A: Rogers Hornsby, .424 in 1924 ["modern" record; others hit higher prior to 1903]

• #83 Jim Mooney, Q: Who holds the record for driving in the most runs in a single season?
• #95 Myril Hoag, A: Hack Wilson of the Cubs, 190 in 1930 [since corrected to 191]

• #84 Paul Derringer, Q: What pitcher holds the record for most consecutive games won?
• #96 James DeShong, Q: Rube Marquard, 19 with the Giants in 1912

Marquard started his 1912 season by winning 19 in a row for John McGraw's Giants, the eventual NL pennant winners, and still holds this record. Check out "Winning Streaks by Pitchers" from the SABR archives for plenty more on the subject.

1909-11 T206 Piedmont Tobacco, Rube Marquard (portrait)

BONUS RUBE: Marquard was the last living player from another seminal set, T206 tobacco. He passed away on June 1, 1980, just long enough to appear in (and sign) the 1979 Diamond Greats set of then-living former players.

1979 Diamond Greats #26, Rube Marquard

As noted in my Diamond Greats set profile, Marquard appeared on vintage cardboard sets nearly 70 years apart, which might itself be another record. Trivia on top of trivia! Such was baseball and collecting, even back in the 1930s.

Top 5 Seasons To Forget, Pitching Edition

Fans, commentators, and statisticians all enjoy streaking from time-to-time. Hitters, runners, and fielders earn extra kudos for putting several successes in a row. Managers and franchises garner respect by making the playoffs in consecutive years and even pitchers get credit for having a hot hand, despite playing every few days at most.

But what if you're going the other direction? As companion to my look at all-time hitting futility, I dug into the history of pitchers for 5 horses who left the gate slow and spent most of the race falling further behind.

I built this list using Baseball-Reference's pitching streak finder for most consecutive game scores under 50 to begin a season. Game scores help isolate starting pitcher performance, since wins and losses depend a great deal on run support. Check out Tim De Block's article on SB Nation for more, but the bottom line is that below 50 game score = below 50% odds of winning. Tossing a string of mediocre games means extra work for your teammates and these 5 guys did that the most since we started keeping track.

1. Bill Kennedy, 1949 (12 starts, 1-7 record)

1949 Bowman #105, Bill Kennedy

Kennedy's 1949 pitching line of 16 starts, 32 relief appearances, and 153 innings says a lot about what the 101-loss St. Louis Browns had to work with. Seven different guys started 13+ games and even team "ace" Ned Garver (114 ERA+) went 12-17 thanks to lousy run support. Two of their most-worked pitchers, Cliff Fannin and Karl Drews, combined for 48 starts but just 12 wins.

Bill's own "streak" covered five months, April 23 to August 21, with two dozen relief outings mixed in. He did decent work out of the pen, but allowed 4+ runs almost every start, a deep hole for the iffy St. Louis lineup to escape.

High point: Collected two relief wins and a save between Jun 28 and July 19.

Low point: Lost 4 straight starts in June by combined score of 32-7.

2. Nelson Briles, 1970 (12 starts, 3-3 record)

1970 Topps #435, Nelson Briles

I'm a little distracted by the card photo itself, as there's a Cardinals uniform #60 in the background, but no coach or player on the official roster sported that number during Nelson's tenure. Anyone know the St. Louis hitting instructors or spring training squads well enough to guess who it might be?

Nelson got off easy considering his 9+ ERA, going 3-3 over those 12 starts. The Cardinals gave him a lot of run support and bad starts often became no-decisions. Briles did come close to pitching himself off my list with multiple game scores just under 50, but "close" only counts in hand grenades and partner dancing.

High point: Thanks to the aforementioned run support, Briles pitched into the 8th inning twice and won both games, July 17 vs. ATL and August 1 at HOU.

Low point: Left two starts without recording an out, May 29 vs. LA and June 13 at SF.

3. Jim Colborn, 1978 (13 starts, 1-8 record)

1978 Topps #129, Jim Colborn

Colborn spread his ill luck across two teams, as KC moved Jim to the Mariners in a mid-season swap for Steve Braun. Seattle gained little from the transaction other than an answer to the question, "what 1978 pitching acquisition dropped his first 6 starts?"

High point: Jim entered KC's April 28th game in the 2nd inning and threw 6.1 innings of 1-run ball, picking up the relief victory in a 7-6 Royals comeback. That might've been a 50+ game score as a starter.

Low point: Won just 1 of first 10 starts with Seattle and never pitched in the majors again after 1978.

4. Brian Anderson, 2004 (13 starts, 1-9 record)

2004 Topps #627, Brian Anderson

Brian kicked off his subpar streak on April 5th as KC's Opening Day starter, yielding 5 runs in 5 innings in an eventual no-decision. Excellent run support kept his record clean for three weeks, but a return to average Royals hitting started a tailspin of 7 straight losses and demotion to the bullpen. Spot starts on June 30 and July 19, both losses, capped the misery at 13.

High point: April 20, 15-5 win over Cleveland, 46 game score.

Low point: May 5, 10-3 loss at Toronto, 11 game score.

Statistical let-downs not enough for you? Brian Anderson also punched his ticket to Internet immortality in 1998 by testing the temperature of a hotel iron with his face. Wonder which he'd rather experience again, those ignominious cheek burns or this 2004 streak.

5. Nick Blackburn, 2012 (13 starts, 4-5 record)

2012 Topps #316, Nick Blackburn

Blackburn went 4-5 despite this 2012 streak of poor game scores, so why do I rank it most forgettable? Two reasons. First, Minnesota didn't jerk Nick around with bullpen duties. They kept sending him out to chew through 5 or 6 innings, carry a 7+ ERA, and absorb fan frustration after losses. Second, this year's 13-game streak followed a 6-game streak at the end of 2011, so Nick also holds the combined record of 19 straight starts with a below-average game score.

High point: Nick picked up 4 straight wins between May 11 and June 22, thanks to good run support. Minnesota averaged 7+ runs during that streak, helping Blackburn's record look good despite his ERA jumping from 6.84 to 7.45.

Low point: 5 straight losses followed those 4 wins and the Twins sent Blackburn down to AAA Rochester in August. (Nick's outright assignment to the minors left him off September's expanded rosters and cast doubt he'll pitch for Minnesota in 2013, despite a year left on his contract.)

Honorable mention to Scott Elarton, who started three different years on 8+ game cold streaks. Ouch.

• 2003: 8 games (Colorado)
• 2004: 9 games (Colorado and Cleveland)
• 2007: 9 games (KC)

UPDATE: Discovered that High Heat Stats examined pitchers with good and bad streaks just yesterday! Very cool.

Any infamous pitching streaks or performances you'd add to the list?

1972 Kellogg's All-Time Greats Baseball #5, George Sisler

Kellogg's packaged a pair of 3-D baseball sets with their cereal in 1972, probably as a hedge against the first MLBPA labor strike. Financial issues loomed ever larger in the late 60s and early 70s as the players union won important legal victories against team owners, so card publishers made their own backup plans. (Several "All-Time Greats" sets from the 1950s and 60s follow a similar pattern, appearing as ways to save on team or player licensing fees--baseball cards remain a business, no matter what the era.)

So how did this particular set appear in 1972 cereal boxes? I imagine the release planning went like this.

• In late 1971, Kellogg's starts work on a "regular" 1972 baseball set with active players
• Players and owners fail to reach a labor agreement during the off-season
• Kellogg's dusts off this All-Time Greats set from 1970's Rold Gold pretzels, in case the MLB cancels their 1972 season
• Kellogg's updates the set to a 1972 date and packages them in cereal boxes
• Strike wipes out first two weeks of the season before labor agreement reached
• Kellogg's adds "regular" baseball to cereal boxes once baseball resumes

Collectors say cereal boxes with this 15-card set came out after their active player set (1972 Kellogg's #5, Bill Parsons), but it's likely Kellogg's printed these cards in advance and switched to All-Time Greats once "regular" stock ran out.

HOFer and hitter extraordinaire George Sisler picked up the nickname "Gorgeous George," but this photo isn't particularly dashing. His rugged good looks show up better in large photos.

Value: All-Time Greats contain only big names, but low-grade types still run just a few dollars. Find the full checklist at Key Man Collectibles.

Fakes / reprints: This set's an almost exact copy of 1970 Rold Gold baseball, so collectors often confuse the two. Look for the 1970 (Rold Gold) and 1972 (Kellogg's) copyright date.

1954 Bowman Baseball #5, William Hunter

1954 marked the third year of direct competition between Bowman and Topps, as both companies fought to make and sell the definitive "gum card" to kids. Each side tried out new design ideas, signed popular stars to exclusive contracts, and made year-to-year strides in overall quality. They stood less than two years from Bowman's failure and sale to Topps, but I doubt anyone would've predicted it when this set hit the street.

Today's card relates a similar baseball struggle between St. Louis's two franchises, the AL Browns and NL Cardinals. After the city's only crosstown World Series in 1944, pitched competition for fan dollars ultimately escalated into both sides trying to drive the other out of town. Business strategy played a large role, as the Cardinals went for wins and the Browns for "entertainment," so their outcome said as much about sports as an industry as baseball as a pastime.

When the Cardinals "won" this business battle, the Browns (a.k.a., "the Brownies") moved to Baltimore after the 1953 season and became the Orioles. Bowman card editors must've written the back text prior to 1954 and then retouched Bill's jersey from BROWNS to ORIOLES just before printing. (Squint and you can still see BROWNS in there.) Find a shot of their "real" opening day jersey at The Baltimore Sun.

The legendary Bill Veeck owned those Browns prior to their move east and made some enemies in his failed struggle to drive the Cardinals out of town. They must've written a book or two about that era, but check out Wikipedia's entry in the meantime. Fascinating stuff!

Many sets today seem laid out in random order, but not 1954 Bowman. It started with Yankee Phil Rizzuto at #1 and then went through the same 16 teams, in order, for the entire set. Ted Williams originally appeared as #66, but was withdrawn and replaced with teammate Jimmy Piersall due to Ted's exclusive contract with Topps. (Catalogs call Williams #66A and Piersall #66B.)

1. Yankees (...American League teams follow)
2. Red Sox
3. A's
4. Indians
5. Orioles
6. White Sox
7. Tigers
8. Senators
9. Giants (...National League teams follow)
10. Dodgers
11. Pirates
12. Reds
13. Cubs
14. Cardinals
15. Phillies
16. Braves

When you hit #17, this order restarts with Tom Gorman, a Yankee.

1954 Bowman baseball #17, Tom Gorman

Player trades led to a handful of exceptions, but they're rare birds overall. Almost every card reliably fits into its place in this 16-team rotation.

1954 Bowman #66a, Ted Williams

This infamous #66 became Bowman's "temporary Ted Williams." It's believed Topps threatened legal action due to an exclusive card deal with the Splinter and forced Bowman to replace his spot. Both companies signed a number of players to the exclusive right for cards, with Bowman often getting the better end of things. This time, Topps turned the tables on them.

I assume Bowman's adherence to their checklist order explains our "switch-hit" for Piersall at #66. Ted Williams first took up a "Red Sox" space (#66), so would need a Boston replacement. If we assume Bowman created most of their 1954 layout in advance, Piersall sat much later at #210, the final "Red Sox" space for a 224-card set.

1954 Bowman #66b, Jimmy Piersall

Since Jimmy stood furthest from #66 when he took over for Ted, perhaps Bowman thought they'd pull a double swap and find an alternative player for Piersall himself by the time they printed his sheet. If they did plan such a move, it never came to fruition. Card text mistakes led to numerous mid-set revisions, so perhaps Bowman scuttled any full-card swaps in favor of fixing their bevy of smaller problems and stuck with Piersall at #210, giving him two cards that year.

UPDATE: Found front and back scans of 1954 Bowman's wax packs!

I'm a little surprised to see a label as simple as "Bowman's Baseball," but perhaps they put so much money into the card art, there wasn't enough time or budget left for the wrappers.

Value: Low-grade singles cost a few dollars or even $1 each in lots.

Fakes / reprints: Ted Williams stature makes his #66 card a common target for faking or reprinting.

1972 Laughlin Great Feats of Baseball #5, George Sisler

For a team with rare on-field success (a handful of winning seasons and 1 pennant in half a century), the old St. Louis Browns fielded plenty of HOF-caliber players. "Gorgeous George" Sisler proved one of their best, batting over .400 twice, winning the AL's first MVP award in 1922, and setting a single-season hits record that stood for 80 years. (Full stats at Baseball-Reference.)

Card front (blank back)

Artist Bob Laughlin turned this clean, nostalgic art style into two lines of business during the 1970s. At the candy counter, Fleer published his World Series cards (1971 #5 profile here) for several years, possibly until 1980. They also planned to collaborate on these "Great Feats" cards until Topps printed their own 1971 "Greatest Moments" set. Fleer ultimately backed out of the plan, so Laughlin sold it by mail order and continued to self-publish oddball sets throughout the decade. ("Long Ago Black Stars" is my favorite.)

Mail order ad for 1972 Great Feats 

For more info on Laughlin's sets and overall excellent card research, read "How Topps Foiled Fleer's Plans" at the superlative Fleer Sticker Project. (It also provided the ad scan above.)

Value: Most of the set features well-known players, so singles can run up to $10.

Fakes / reprints: While not technically a reprint, Laughlin produced versions with both red and blue borders. A year further removed from the Topps set, Fleer decided in 1973 to go ahead with a "Famous Feats" set that reuses some pictures from this set.

1915 Cracker Jack E145 #5, Ward Miller

As the tobacco era of baseball cards waned, candy and snack makers stepped in with similar cross-promotional ideas. Cracker Jack, already immortalized in the chorus of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," produced a pair of such sets, now cataloged as E145-1 and E145-2, across 1914 and 1915.

Unlike the narrow, ad-back cards produced for smokers, Cracker Jack went with broad images on the front and detailed player bios on the back. 1914's text refers to a "complete set of 144 pictures," but 1915 numbers to 176, their easiest distinguishing feature. Card stock also changed between the years, probably to match up with 1915's collectors album. (See Old Cardboard's profile for further production details.)

If you had a family hand-me-down set of Cracker Jacks, where would you take it? Perhaps an Antiques Roadshow in Kansas? It happened in 2008 and the show appraiser provided some set details (and value) in the transcript.

Cracker Jack started with 144 cards for their 1914 set and expanded to 176 in 1915. Look for the "complete set of 176 pictures" card text (or "144 pictures" in 1914) to tell them apart.

Ward Miller played for the St. Louis Terriers of the outlaw Federal League, an 8-team attempt to compete directly with the American and National Leagues. They were rewarded with his finest seasons at the plate--122 OPS+ in 1914 and 125 OPS+ in 1915--and league-average work in the field.

When the Federal League dissolved after 1915, Terriers owner Phil Ball "joined" the AL by purchasing the St. Louis Browns and merging both teams' rosters. Miller stayed with the franchise through 1917, so is one of the few players to play in all 3 "major" leagues: American, Federal, and National.

Value: This #5 cost $30, an OK price for low-grade singles. Unfortunately, the sheer quantity of graded and faked Cracker Jacks in the market makes it difficult to find low-grade authentic cards at any price.

Fakes / reprints: So many counterfeit and reprint Cracker Jacks cards exist that I recommend you buy a graded type card or work with dealers who know pre-war vintage inside and out.

1921-1930 Major League Baseball Die-Cuts #5, George Blaeholder

It took me a while to give in and purchase this card. It’s got a pitching pose, but doesn’t resemble anyone in particular. Generic pants, lumpy shirt, and preternaturally stiff jersey sleeves complete the look of “five-minute sketch of man in woolen uniform.” At least it’s all done in sepia tones, matching the St. Louis Browns’ coffee stain history as an American League doormat in the 30s. Not too motivating, but I eventually found one for $5 and made the deal.

Card front (blank back)

The player in question, George Blaeholder, remained constant on the Browns from 1928 to 1934, taking the ball when asked and annually winning (and losing) at least 10 games. He moved on to the A’s in 1935, “achieving” a decent ERA+ mark but still going 6 and 10. That year, Philly beat St. Louis to the cellar by winning only 58 games under HOF manager Connie Mack. People often speak wistfully about players that play their whole career for one club; Mack served the A’s for half a century, helming the team from 1901 to 1950.

You deserve a more recognizable image of George Blaeholder, so check out his various cards from the 30s and 40s. The Goudeys and Diamond Stars look great as always, but I have a soft spot for the in-your-face color of the Tattoo Orbits. The high-contrast tones and action angle remind me of classic Soviet propaganda posters.

This particular set's actually pieces taken from a board game called "Major League Ball - The Indoor Game Supreme." (OldCardboard.com attributes the set to National Game Makers Company of Washington,D.C.) It kicked off in 1921 with at least five teams and a simpler design, listing only name, fielding and batting position, and team. Perforations, visible in the picture, connected the players horizontally and the maker post-fixed labels with name, position, and other details. Team sets (or label updates) came in an single envelope and were probably available through toy stores. The SCD catalog lists updates throughout the 1920s based on when players suited up for a given team. Blaeholder, for example, started pitching regularly in 1928, so only appeared after that time.

I started seeing these guys at shows more frequently in the last five years. It’s hard to recommend them unless you have a very specific interest, like a certain team, player, or (cough) type collection. The blasé player images and odd set construction do mean relatively low prices. This might be the cheapest way to recreate a classic lineup like the 1927 Yankees, though Ruth still runs hundreds of dollars in good shape. I point people back to the '33 and '34 Goudeys, since they're so much more attractive and informative.

1941 Goudey Baseball #5, George McQuinn

Mean Mr. McQuinn looks really unhappy about something in 1941. The German invasion of Poland? American isolationist policies prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor? Both are possible, but my choice is "being on the St. Louis Browns for the prime years of my career."

Card front (blank back)

After dominating the hobby with its creative, eye-catching sets a decade earlier, Goudey's blasé 1941 effort tells us more about the company itself than the game of baseball. They printed its austere 33 cards on scrap rag paper due to shortages. Mel Ott and Carl Hubbell are the only superstars and each card in the set is blank-backed, so what you see is what you get. Four fruit colors serve as the set's only "innovation" and create a very challenging master set. (I'm not one for grading companies, but note the #1 PSA set entry isn't even complete, let alone in good condition.)

While no Mel Ott, McQuinn was a decent player. He made 7 All-Star games, placed 6th in the MVP voting for the title-winning 1947 Yankees, and hit the only World Series homer in Browns history. He produced the rare feat of double-digit 2Bs, 3Bs, and HRs in back-to-back years and almost always walked more than he struck out. This maintained his run production despite below-average teammates and George dipped below 100 OPS+ only once in 11 full seasons.

Goudey did me two favors by mis-cutting this #5. First, it's affordable, a magic word in my world. Second, we get some insight into the printing setup, as the top of #19 Posedel appears below McQuinn; compare the hat brim on both.

Cutting problems plague the 1941 set, given its "stacked" process. Sheets near the top would cut cleanly, but the bottom would slide out slightly and deliver the final product you see here.

The set's an alluring pre-war target, with only 33 cards and no huge names. However, heed the words of my trading friend (and SCD contributor) George Vrechek.

"Category 4 – Nice cards but impossible, Double Black Diamonds in ski terminology. Forget ‘em. Just not available much even though book prices may not be ridiculous. A type card would be nice though. (emphasis added)"


UPDATE: This 1988 reprint shows what a well-cut card looks like.

UPDATE #2: Here's the yellow version of Mr. McQuinn.

UPDATE #3: Red version.

UPDATE #4: Blue version.