Sunday, December 27, 2020

#10 Roy Mahaffey - Philadelphia Athletics


Lee Roy Mahaffey
Philadelphia Athletics
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  180
Born:  February 9, 1904, Belton, SC
Major League Teams:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1926-1927; Philadelphia Athletics 1930-1935; St. Louis Browns 1936
World Series Appearances:  Philadelphia Athletics 1931
Died:  July 23, 1969, Anderson, SC (65)

After a few brief appearances with the Pirates and successful seasons with the Columbia Comers in 1928 in the South Atlantic League and with the Portland Beavers in 1929 in the Pacific Coast League, Roy Mahaffey was acquired by Connie Mack in January 1930 to bolster his Athletics pitching staff.  Mahaffey was a 15-game winner in 1931 and a 13-game winner in both 1932 and 1933.  He pitched just an inning in the 1931 World Series in which the Athletics lost to the Cardinals in seven games.  Relying on a fast ball and a slow curve, Mahaffey went 64-43 during his years in Philadelphia with a 4.82 ERA.  He was sold to the Browns following the 1935 season and he'd struggle through 21 games in St. Louis before retiring from the majors.  He continued pitching through 1941 with various textile league teams throughout South Carolina.

Building the Set
December 15, 2020 from Longmont, CO (BBC Emporium) - Card #2
Bitten by the bug of collecting a new set, I decided I could justify an early Christmas present to myself and while on a particularly long and unproductive work video meeting, I found four more cards for my set.  Along with this Mahaffey card, I added the cards of Robert Rolfe (#29), "Jo Jo" White (#45) and Fred M. Frankhouse (#62).

Variations Available
1 - 1934 / green back / 1933 statistics / 1934 copyright
2 - 1935 / green back / 1934 statistics / 1934 copyright ✅
3 - 1936 / blue back / 1935 statistics / 1934 copyright / "now St. Louis Browns" on back

I've added the 1935 variation to my collection.  The Browns variation is one of 10 variations I'll be tracking down for my version of a master set, as that card removes the "A" from the front of Mahaffey's jersey.

It's impressive to me that the cards' creators actually bothered to update the bio on the bottom of the cards issued in multiple years.  The 1934 version of Mahaffey's card notes he's 31 years old and that he "Won 13, lost 10 games in 1933."  In 1935, that's updated to note Mahaffey is now 32 years old and he "Won 6, lost 7 games in 1934."

As noted above, this is the 1935 version of Mahaffey's Diamond Stars card and the back has been updated to reflect his 1934 won-loss record.  The pitching tip on the back concerns the necessity of the pitcher to be able to field his position, especially after "hard line drives through the box."  The photo used for the front of the card lends itself to this lesson as Mahaffey is shown set evenly on his feet, ready for whatever is coming his way.

The Athletics were so bad by the time these cards were issued, Mahaffey, along with Jimmie Foxx (#64) are the only two Athletics players featured in the set.

1935 Season
This was Mahaffey's last full season with Mack's Athletics, and he'd go 8-4 with a 3.90 ERA over 27 games while making 17 starts.  Since appearing in the World Series in 1931, the Athletics had steadily declined year after year and they'd drop to the American League basement in 1935 with a 58-91 record.  Johnny Marcum was the only bright spot for the pitching rotation as he went 17-12 with a 4.08 ERA.

1933 Goudey #196
1935 Goudey 4-in-1 #31
1992 Conlon Collection TSN #603

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1933 Goudey #196
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1992 Conlon Collection TSN #603

14 - Mahaffey non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/20/20.

Sources:

Sunday, December 20, 2020

#41 Harvey Hendrick - Philadelphia Phillies


Harvey Hendrick
Philadelphia Phillies
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  190
Born:  November 9, 1897, Mason, TN
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1923-1924; Cleveland Indians 1925; Brooklyn Robins 1927-1931; Cincinnati Reds 1931; St. Louis Cardinals 1932; Cincinnati Reds 1932; Chicago Cubs 1933; Philadelphia Phillies 1934
World Series Appearances:  New York Yankees 1923
Died:  October 29, 1941, Covington, TN (43)

Before his 11-year major league career, Harvey Hendrick, nicknamed "Gink," was a football and baseball star at Vanderbilt University.  Originally signed by the Red Sox, Hendrick was traded to the Yankees in January 1923 and he'd make his sole World Series appearance later that year in a series won by the Yankees over the New York Giants.  He enjoyed the best seasons of his career with the Brooklyn Robins in 1928 and 1929, reaching career highs in batting average (.354), home runs (14) and RBIs (82) in 1929 as a super utility player.  Hendrick finished in the top 10 for stolen bases in the National League three years in a row between 1927 and 1929.  He served as the every day first baseman for the Reds in 1931, and finished up his career with the Phillies in 1934.  In 922 games, Hendrick batted .308 with 434 runs scored, 48 home runs and 413 RBIs.

Tragicially (and this is a heck of a start for this blog!) Hendrick took his own life in 1941, becoming the first person in the set to pass away.

Building the Set
December 11, 2020 from San Diego, CA (Kit Young Cards) - Card #1
This was the card that officially launched my collection of this 86-year-old set.  I had been doing some Christmas shopping online late on the night of December 5th when I wandered into the store of Kit Young Cards on eBay.  A complete and total impulse purchase, I found a reasonably priced card from the set, and importantly a Phillies card, while browsing the many auction listings.  Once I hit "But It Now" on this card, there was no looking back.

The card arrived on my oldest son Doug's 14th birthday.  I wrote more about my set collecting history and the ultimate and somewhat impulsive decision to start collecting this set on this blog's Introduction page.

Variations Available
1 - 1935 / green back / 1934 statistics / 1935 copyright

Hendrick had already appeared in his final game when this card was first released in 1935.  The source photo used for the card was taken during his time with the Dodgers (see below) and an old English "P" was painted over the Brooklyn "B".  Reviewing the wonderfully resourceful Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century by Marc Okkonen, the Phillies hat shown on Hendrick's head never existed.  The Phillies had briefly used an old English "P" as their hat logo, between 1925 and 1933, but in red on a white cap with a red brim.  The 1934 home and away Phillies uniform is shown below.

The write-up on the back seems to allude to Hendrick's recent retirement, passing along a fielding tip that Hendrick "used to do."  The lesson being to watch the batted ball all the way until it enters your glove, which is still a good tip today.  Hendrick's birth date here is listed as November 18th while Baseball Reference has the date as November 9th.

1934 Season / Phillies Career
On November 21, 1933, the Phillies traded future Hall of Famer Chuck Klein (#139) to the Chicago Cubs for Hendrick, Ted Kleinhans, Mark Koenig and $65,000.  Hendrick appeared in 59 games for the Phillies in 1934, making only 21 starts, with 11 of his appearances coming in left field.  He was the oldest player on the team that finished in 7th place in the National League with a record of 56-93.  Only the Reds at 52-99 kept the Phillies from finishing in last place.  Kendrick was released by the Phillies on September 5th with a month left to go in the season, and his baseball career ended.

1928 W513 #63
With the Robins
1992 Conlon Collection TSN #522
1934 Phillies Uniforms

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1928 W513 #63
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1992 Conlon Collection TSN #522

9 - Hendrick non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/20/20.

Sources: