1972 TCMA 1928 Tharp's Baseball Reprint #5, Gabby Hartnett

In the early 1970s, TCMA produced a unique range of direct-to-collector sets that covered big stars and little-known obscurities. I believe they acquired a sizable photo and card collection spanning baseball's prewar era and created more diverse sets as earlier printings sold. TCDB.com shows sixteen issues for 1972 alone.

1. 1972 TCMA 1887 Allen & Ginter N28 Reprints
2. 1972 TCMA 1888 Allen & Ginter N29 Reprints
3. 1972 TCMA 1888 Allen & Ginter N29 Reprints - Promos
4. 1972 TCMA 1909 Philadelphia Caramel E95 Reprints
5. 1972 TCMA 1914 Cracker Jack E145 Reprints
6. 1972 TCMA 1922 American Caramel E121 Reprints
7. 1972 TCMA 1928 Tharp's Ice Cream F50 Reprints
8. 1972 TCMA 1933 Delong (R333) Reprints
9. 1972 TCMA 1936 Goudey R322 Reprints
10. 1972 TCMA 1936 Goudey Wide Pen Reprints
11. 1972 TCMA 1941 St. Louis Browns W753 Reprints
12. 1972 TCMA Cedar Rapids Cardinals
13. 1972 TCMA Sample Sheets
14. 1972 TCMA The 1930's
15. 1972 TCMA The Yawkey Boston Red Sox
16. 1972-73 TCMA 1940 Sporting Life Team Composites

I look at their Tharp's F50 reprints today, whose original issue was interesting in its own right. Catalogs applied F50 to a handful of sets with identical checklists and different promotional backs that include Pennsylvania ice cream makers Tharp's, Yuengling's, and Harrington's. My 1928 set profile covers its particulars.

Forgive this 1972 reprint for looking like a modern photocopy. The haziness around Mr. Hartnett's head isn't bad work on TCMA's part, as 1928 originals already looked that way. Some collectors, including me, shy away from such ugly ducklings, at least ungraded versions, because they're so easy to fake.

While multiple advertisers fit into that "F50" listing, TCMA limited its 1972 reprints to these Tharp Ice Cream backs.

TCMA sold sets direct to collectors, so I bet many remain complete. Others were broken up for sale as singles to HOF or type collectors like me.

Value: While hard to find, individual commons should run less than $10 and I bought this #5 for about that much on eBay a few years ago. Original F50 Ruth cards cost thousands, so his reprints from this set would run higher.

Fakes / reprints: Pretty sure no one reprinted these reprints, since faking the original F50s would be far more lucrative.

1978 TCMA "The 1960's" Baseball #5, Roy Face

Clean design and color photos make this TCMA's finest set from the 1970s. Their fronts closely resemble 1953 Bowman, just good pictures and white borders.

Card back

Roy came from TCMA's first series of 1960s players, which totaled 293 cards. They added Series II in 1981, numbered 294 to 482. By count alone, you can guess it includes a wide variety of players, not just stars. Jim Ollom fans, rejoice!

1981 TCMA 1960s Series II #378, Jim Ollom

Card back

Wow, how did the bio leave out Face's amazing 18-1 record in 1959? Across 2 seasons, he won 22 games in a row! At least they acknowledge him as one of the game's best relievers.

Roy started that amazing 1959 season with 17 straight wins, finally losing to the Dodgers on September 11th. He entered the 1st game of a doubleheader up 2-1 and finished the 8th for starter Bob Friend, before allowing 2 runs in LA's 9th.

Never one to fold early, Face pitched 4 innings on Sept 19 for win #18 and notched save #10 a few days later. 18-1 remans baseball's highest single-season winning % ever.

Value: Less-heralded players from this set cost $1 or less. Roy garnered some HOF votes, but fell far short of actual election and dropped from the ballot after 1990.

Fakes / reprints: TCMA probably sold 1978's first series until they ran out, but I don't know of any reprints.

1977 TCMA 1939-1940 Cincinnati Reds Baseball #5, Ival Goodman

TCMA sets seldom featured innovative design, given the company's limited financial resources. Prior to 1980, most everything they printed used a) black-and-white photos and b) solid color borders. So what's the natural choice for honoring Cincinnati's 1940 championship club? Yep, it's the Reds.

Card front (with ink stamp test?)

"Goodie" Goodman came late to the majors, finally debuting at age 26. Originally scouted by St. Louis, Ival couldn't crack the Gashouse Gang's outfield, so they sold him to the Reds for $25,000 following 1934. He made an immediate impact for Cincy and remained an everyday player through 1940.

Goodman's career stats include 4 straight years with double-digit 2Bs, 3Bs, and HRs. 1938 and 1939 marked his batting peak (148 and 143 OPS+), as Ival whacked over 60 extra-base hits each year.

Card back

TCMA sold this 45-player set directly to collectors. I think they printed just a few hundred sets, given its scarcity compared to their other issues from the same year.

Value: SCD's annual guide prices singles at $2-$3 and I agree.

Fakes / reprints: Doubt anyone would reprint such a obscure set unless it had major stars.

1979 TCMA Baseball History #5, Ernie Banks

This 291-card set features a great collection of 1950s player photos, most posed in mock "game action" like Ernie, below. Banks so young and mischievous, I wonder if there's an ice cream truck passing by.

Card front

Red-striped stirrups over socks, floppy shoe tongues, and loose-fitting pant legs complete Mr. Cub's vintage uniform. Hard to date the year exactly, since its details don't match this Cubs uniform history's "Ernie Banks Years" section. As a spring training photo--note the looming palm trees--perhaps that's 1953 or 1954, before Banks became famous as Chicago's slugging shortstop.

Card back

TCMA cribbed this back design from 1953 Bowman; the originals feature a more detailed stat grid.

1953 Bowman Color #59, Mickey Mantle

Banks and Mantle could both play on a baseball team featuring only back-to-back MVP winners. Here are the pre-1985 qualifiers.

• Pitcher: Hal Newhouser
• Catcher: Yogi Berra
• First: Jimmie Foxx
• Second: Joe Morgan
• Short: Ernie Banks
• Third: Mike Schmidt
• OF: Dale Murphy, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris

Value: Most TCMA singles cost a dollar or two, depending on set and player. This set's relatively easy to find, so don't break the bank, even if it is stocked with HOFers.

Fakes / reprints: Haven't seen reprints of this one, though it's likely TCMA printed additional sets in-house if existing stock ran out. (They'd still be "authentic" in that sense.)

1974 TCMA Baseball Nicknames #5, "Silent Cal" Benge

This plain-faced oddball set gathers together 28 vintage players that share one thing, an interesting moniker. Babe Ruth is here, ditto Spud Chandler and Hot Potato Hamlin. Silent Cal Benge didn't make a lasting impact on the game--12 seasons, 96 ERA+, no playoff appearances--but certainly fits this theme.

Card front

Direct-to-collector card maker TCMA used these basic designs in the 70s to save money, since they didn't start with much. Keith Olbermann, who wrote and edited for them around that time, posted memories of those Halcyon days to his Baseball Nerd blog.

Card back

For all his silence, a modern parallel between unheralded Benge and ace Felix Hernandez stood out to me. Let's compare Cal's 1931 season in Philadelphia to King Felix's 2010.

• Team winning %: Philly .429, Seattle .382
• Personal winning %: Cal .438, Felix .500
• ERA+: Cal 133, Felix 169
• Pitching WAR: Cal 5.2 (2nd in NL), 5.5 (1st in AL)

Philly teammate Chuck Klein finished 2nd in the 1931 NL MVP race. With no Cy Young award available in 1931, shaking hands would be the closest Benge got to any recognition. (Felix retains an outside shot at this year's AL award, given his in-game dominance and modern view of stats.)

Value: Lesser-known players like Benge cost a few dollars. HOFers Ruth, Bob Feller, and Dizzy Dean run a few times that.

Fakes / reprints: Haven't seen any in the market and it's unlikely anyone would try faking such a low-demand set.

How far have we come? How many cards remain?

This blog's approaching 350 articles and ~270 of them talk about actual #5 cards. Others ask poll questions, profile followers in the Type Site series, or note with disdain that the National charges $3 for a 20oz Diet Pepsi.

Here's the full breakdown by decade and subject.

• Pre-1920: 9 posts
• 1920 - 1929: 20
• 1930 - 1939: 18
• 1941 - 1949: 18
• 1950 - 1959: 29
• 1960 - 1969: 51
• 1970 - 1979: 87
• 1980 - now: 39 (most from 1980 alone)
• Poll: 25 
• Type Site: 20
• Misc: 17

270 articles sounds like a lot--is a lot--of words about pieces of sporty cardboard. Will the well soon run dry? Using the 2010 SCD "big book" as reference, these #5 profiles remain unwritten.

• Pre-1920: 11 (of 20 total)
• 1920 - 1929: 16 (of 36)
• 1930 - 1939: 15 (of 33)
• 1941 - 1949: 8 (of 26)
• 1950 - 1959: 26 (of 55)
• 1960 - 1969: 36 (of 87)
• 1970 - 1979: 138 (of 225)
• 1980: 37 (of 76)

Sweet Mario Mendoza, that's 287 profiles to go. Not even halfway!

I'm as surprised as you, Bryan. Thanks to all y'all for reading along.

1925 Maple Crispette Baseball (V117) #5, Lee Fohl

Gulf Coast residents, especially those near New Orleans, have a word for getting a little extra when you buy something: lagniappe. It's the 13th donut in your baker's dozen, special sauce on a po' boy sandwich, or extra "dipping sugar" from Cafe du Monde--and, let me tell you, Cafe du Monde adds plenty of bonus sugar.

1925 Maple Crispette #5, Lee Fohl (Red Sox manager)

Louisiana isn't the only French-speaking region with something extra. Back in the mid-1920s, Montreal candy maker Maple Crispette produced this baseball set, complete with lagniappe. Those patient enough to collect all 30 cards could exchange it for 1 of 3 sweet baseball goodies: an American Legion baseball, "high class" bat, or Scholastic Model glove. (Yesssssss.)

Card back

According to the offer text, kids could send in a mixture of cards from the 1925 baseball or 1924-1925 hockey set, shown below.

1924-25 Maple Crispette hockey

Unfortunately for buyers then and now, the candy maker printed a tiny number of #15 Casey Stengel. This kept 1920s kids from redeeming full sets and 21st century collectors from finding all 30 cards. (Hockey #15 Cleghorn is just as rare, so you're stuck trying to complete the set either way.) Folks don't even consider Stengel part of the "complete" set, as only 1 example's known to survive.

Most price guides date this set to 1923, but Crispette expert Eric Eichelkraut places it at 1925. I agree, given the parallel offer with their hockey set, which itself came out in late 1924.

UPDATE: Robert Edward Auctions sold a hockey near-set in 2012 that includes more info about that companion issue.

Value: Mr. Fohl cost me $90, about right for a low-grade common. EX (and above) cards run a good deal more.

Fakes / reprints: While not a well-known set, it does contain a Babe Ruth card and other players profitable to fake. Be very cautious and know your dealer when buying the big-money cards.

Blog Bat-Around: If I Were the Commish...

Tribecards.net posted a challenge to fellow bloggers on Monday. MLB commissioner Bud Selig's plans to retire in 2012, 42 years after starting his baseball "career" by buying the bankrupt Pilots and moving them to Milwaukee. He might or might really not step down, having already worked beyond one announced retirement date (2009). But let's say it happened and you got the job. How should our national pastime's overseer carry the torch?

Peanuts tribute to baseball's 1st commissioner

I cribbed this list of events under Selig's tenure (1992-present) from Wikipedia.

• 1994 players strike
• Introduction of interleague play, wild card, and revenue sharing
• 1998 realignment to 6 "unbalanced" divisions (16 NL, 14 AL, Brewers change to NL)
• Helped organize World Baseball Classic in 2006
• Montreal moved to Washington DC, first relocation since DC lost Senators to Texas
• High level of support from baseball owners
• Decried by MLB Players' Union for general policies
• Criticized by public and political figures for ignoring rise of steroids
• Credited with sport's financial turnaround (400% revenue increase, new attendance records)

Some folks focus on a commissioner's philosophical stands--such as how to treat Pete Rose and whether to "penalize" rich or lousy teams--but most of the above are about money.

I propose these 5 changes to re-tune baseball and make folks some extra money without throwing tradition and principles onto the dung heap.

1. Invite foreign teams to play in spring training. Our Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues are already a mishmash of split squads, college exhibitions, and walk-ons. Adding foreign teams should improve scouting of international players, bring out a wider array of fans, and increase interest in otherwise low-impact games.

2. Make DH available to both leagues, but only by managers agreement. Unless both say "yes," no DH for that game. Strategically, teams would still sign (and pay) these big-stick, no-glove players. Tactically, they might do a lot of pinch-hitting. Pitchers who can also hit become more valuable, since they increase the team's flexibility. (LaRussa's already on record against the DH, so you'd never get to use it against him.)

3. Let stadiums set their own mound height. Higher mounds favor pitchers, just as closer fences favor hitters. Back in 1968, it stood at 15 inches and today it's at 10. Allowing teams to re-grade their mound between 10 and 15 inches on each off-day gives managers another way to match a lineup to its stadium and circumstances.

4. Give a seasonal post-mortem on player safety. Football deservedly takes heat for recurring head injuries, which may cause earlier disease onset and even death. This is an opening to portray baseball as the "safer" sport for both fans and future players. Show how coaches, equipment, and medical staffs work now and plan to improve in the future. (This is a longer-team goal, so doesn't create revenue directly.)

5. Here's one for us collectors! Create an online "team lineup" set for every game as an incentive to attend. Take pictures of all players who appear and create a card for each one, dated to that game. (MLB could do them in-house or by license to Topps.) Make them available within 24 hours for viewing and purchase by ticket-holders. Tying uniform or bat cards to specific games will also please higher-spending relic collectors.

#1 and #5 would add new revenue, #2 and #3 are interesting rule permutations, and #4's most "important," since it covers the health of baseball's players.

Thanks for the challenge, David, I had fun thinking through it!

1910 E93 Standard Caramel Baseball #5, Frank Chance

100 years after its 1910 publication, "Tinker to Evers to Chance" (from Baseball's Sad Lexicon) remains one of the sport's most enduring refrains. Chicago's famous double-play combo named Frank Chance last because he manned 1st base, with Tinker at short and Evers at second. While decent players, the trio's simultaneous HOF induction in 1946 says more about post-WWII nostalgia for happier times than their particular playing skills.

Card front

Lancaster, PA's Standard Caramel Company produced this 30-player set in 1910. While its issue date coincides with the seminal (and massive) T206 cigarette set, tobacco and candy makers soon moved in different directions. Baseballers vanished almost entirely from cigarette packs by 1920, as their corporate magnates colluded to lower production costs by dropping sports cards and other high-cost promotions. Candy companies quickly filled the market with low-cost alternatives, capitalizing on America's growing sweet tooth and the rising economic power of children.

Card back

Each Standard Caramel card uses the same back, a checklist of all 30 players. They're numbered almost in alphabetical order--notice how the "C" players munge together, with Chance coming between Collins and "Coveleskie" (actually HOFer Stan Coveleski).

Value: Not many E93s survived to the present day, so even low grades prove expensive. This poor/fair HOFer cost about $200 on eBay.

Fakes / reprints: Folks have both "officially" reprinted this set and faked individual players. Genuine card stock closely matches T206s and other tobaccos, but has a much glossier front.

UPDATE: Here are "clean" versions of the front and back. (Pretty sure they're scanned from a reprint set, with whiter card stock.)

1975 Great Plains Greats Baseball #5, Allie Reynolds

Oklahoma-born Allie Reynolds turned a career of great pitching, 6 All-Star games, and 6 titles into a spot in this souvenir 24-card set, published to promote the Great Plains Sports Collectors Association's 1975 convention. Its simple design reminds me of the 1954 Red Heart set, though without the nostalgic (and more expensive) hand-tinted fronts (Google images).

Card front

Allie helped New York win an unprecedented 5 straight World Series from 1949 to 1953. Could a team be that dominant in today's free agent era? Since 1973, the Yankees do lead baseball with 7 titles--but that's just 1 more than Reynolds picked up in less than a decade.

Card back

The 1975 convention took place in Des Moines, Iowa, hence the Sheraton underwriting. (Perhaps Great Plains SCA used the hotel itself for their show space.)

Aside from his pitching accomplishments, Allie Reynolds was also the son of a preacher man. Alert Dusty Springfield!

Value: This #5 cost $5 on eBay. Its bigger names (Feller, Maris, Berra) cost $10 or more.

Fakes / reprints: Haven't seen any fakes in the market and assume the market's too small to be worthwhile.