1934-1936 Diamond Stars: #41 Harvey Hendrick

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

The Card / Phillies Team Set

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.