Sunday, August 29, 2021

#110 Pete Fox - Detroit Tigers


Ervin Fox
Detroit Tigers
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  165
Born:  March 8, 1909, Evansville, IN
Major League Teams:  Detroit Tigers 1933-1940; Boston Red Sox 1941-1945
World Series Appearances:  Detroit Tigers 1934-1935, 1940
Died:  July 5, 1966, Detroit, MI (57)

Pete Fox reportedly received his "Pete" nickname when fans of his Beaumont Exporters team in the Texas League began calling him "Peter Rabbit" during the 1932 season on account of his speed.  Peter Rabbit evolved to Pete and Fox dropped his original first name, Ervin.  Fox played for 13 big league seasons with the Tigers and Red Sox, primarily as a right fielder.  He clubbed a career high 15 home runs in 1935, hit his career high batting average at .331 in 1937 and drove in a career high 96 runs in 1938.  Fox was on pennant-winning Tigers teams in 1934, 1935 and 1940 and in the 1934 World Series he set an American League record with six doubles.  Detroit defeated the Cubs in six games in the 1935 World Series with Fox considered to be the unofficial MVP of the Series after he batted .385 (10 for 26).  Following his World Series heroics, he enjoyed five more seasons with the Tigers before being sold to the Red Sox on December 12, 1940.  He played his final four seasons in Boston, seeing regular playing time with Red Sox outfielders Ted Williams and Dom DiMaggio serving in the military.  Fox was named to his sole All-Star Game in 1944.

Fox retired with 1,678 hits over 1,461 games, batting .298 with 65 home runs and 693 RBIs.  He briefly managed in the minor leagues in the late 1940s and later served as a scout for the White Sox and Tigers.

Building the Set
December 11, 2020 from San Diego, CA (Kit Young Cards)
On the night I impulsively decided to collect the original Diamond Stars set, and I subsequently purchased the Harvey Hendrick (#41) card from Kit Young Cards, I also added the complete, and first, extended set to my cart for the very reasonable price of $7.50.  The 12 cards in this first extended set were originally issued in 1981.

In the early 1980s, a family member of a former National Chicle employee discovered an uncut sheet of 12 unused cards presumably meant as a 1937 continuation of the Diamond Stars set.  As originally advertised, and as mentioned on the back of every card issued, the company had intended for the set to contain 240 subjects.  They only produced 108 cards before production was halted, and the theory is this newly found sheet represented a "lost" continuation of the set.  Fortunately, the images of the cards made their way into the collecting world and a 12-card "what if" set was created.  (More on the uncut sheet can be found here from SABR's Baseball Cards Research Committee and from this Ryan Cracknell article for Beckett.)

Another great article was recently published to SABR's Baseball Cards Research Committee website taking a closer look at these extended cards.

The Beckett online database lists the set as "1981 Diamond Stars Continuation Den's" and the set's description notes "This set was created and produced by Denny Eckes.  Hobbyist Mike Galella was involved in bringing this sheet to the the public.  These cards were originally available from the producer for $3."  The back of the cards have a 1981 copyright attributed to Den's Collectors Den, the company belonging to the aforementioned Eckes.

The 12 cards include more ambitious geometric designs than the original Diamond Stars cards,  although the overall color template remains the same as their 1934 to 1936 counterparts.

Variations Available
1 - 1981 / blue back / 1936 statistics / 1981 copyright

The Card / Tigers Team Set
As pointed out in the recent article linked above, the photo used for Fox's card seems to be a repurposing of another Fox photo showing the outfielder swinging a bat and used for his 1934 Goudey card.  The tip on the back discusses the need to learn the angles and unique caroms to be found from each ballpark's outfield walls.

1937 Season
After a down year in 1936, Fox regained his starting right fielder's job and delivered a solid year at the plate.  He batted .331 with 116 runs scored, 12 home runs and 82 RBIs for a Tigers team that finished in second place in the American League behind the Yankees.  His most frequent Tigers outfield mates in 1937 included Gee Walker (#152) in left field and Jo-Jo White (#45) in center field.

1934 Goudey #70
 
1936 Goudey Wide Pen Premiums
(R314) #A32
1938 Goudey Heads-Up
(R323) #242
1939 Play Ball #80
 
1941 Play Ball #43
 

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1934 Goudey #70
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1991 Conlon Collection TSN #197

43 - Fox non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/23/21.

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Sunday, August 22, 2021

#31 "Kiki" Cuyler - Chicago Cubs


Hazen Shirley Cuyler
Chicago Cubs
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  180
Born:  August 30, 1898, Harrisville, MI
Major League Teams:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1921-1927; Chicago Cubs 1928-1935; Cincinnati Reds 1935-1937; Brooklyn Dodgers 1938
World Series Appearances:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1925; Chicago Cubs 1929, 1932
Died:  February 11, 1950, Ann Arbor, MI (51)
Hall of Fame Induction:  1968

Outfielder Kiki Cuyler could hit for average, possessed speed on the base paths and provided steady defense for the Pirates, Cubs, Reds and Dodgers over 18 major league seasons.  Cuyler had three 200+ hit seasons while leading the league in runs scored twice, in triples once (with 26) and in stolen bases four times.  He helped lead the Pirates to a World Series title in 1925, driving in six runs in the Series, and finished second in the MVP voting that season behind the Cardinals' Rogers Hornsby (#44).  While his numbers were slightly better overall with the Pirates, Cuyler would play most of his career games with the Cubs, who acquired him following the 1927 season.  With the Cubs, Cuyler was one of the league's top run producers, and as their everyday right fielder he helped the club reach the World Series in 1929 and 1932.  He made one All-Star team (the first game wasn't played until 1933) as the starting right fielder for the 1934 N.L. squad.

Cuyler played in 1,879 career games, collecting 2,299 hits and batting .321 with 328 stolen bases.  His 157 career triples is 45th on the all-time list.  He briefly managed in the minor leagues after retiring as a player and was a coach for the Cubs (1941-1943) and Red Sox (1949).  Cuyler was inducted posthumously into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1968 by the Veteran's Committee.

Building the Set
July 16, 2021 from Brooklyn, NY - Card #23
A boring virtual work meeting got the best of me in mid-July and I found myself browsing eBay for reasonably priced cards to add to my slowly growing Diamond Stars set.  I have no rhyme or reason as to how I'm collecting this set, and I imagine I'll get to the point where all I need are the pricey Hall of Fame cards of the more well known players.  For this particular mission however, I set out searching for commons, relatively speaking, and semi-stars and I happily came away with four new cards.  Three cards came from Clean Sweep Auctions in Port Washington, New York, and a fourth, this Cuyler card, a surprisingly non-pricey Hall of Fame card, came separately from eBay seller booklyn426 from, appropriately enough, Brooklyn.  It's been slow-going building this set, and that's honestly what I expected.  With my disposable income focused on building our 1965 Topps set, and with decent cards from the Diamond Stars set averaging $30 to $40 a piece, I'm happy to take my time and enjoy what could be a lengthy journey.

Variations Available
1 - 1935 / green back / 1934 statistics / 1935 copyright / team on back is the Cubs ✅
2 - 1936 / blue back / 1935 statistics / 1935 copyright / team on back is the Reds

The Card / Cubs Team Set
Until reading and learning about Cuyler, I had always assumed his nickname was pronounced "Kee Kee" but it turns out it's actually pronounced "Ky Ky," rhyming with "eye eye."  He was given the nickname as a result of teammates shortening his last name.  Cuyler is looking pretty serious in this photo, but a lot of his baseball cards show him smiling.  The back of the card gives a fielding tip about always knowing where to position yourself in order to back-up any play.

1935 Season
Cuyler was 36 years old on opening day and he was the Cubs' opening day center fielder with rookie Augie Galan in left and fellow veteran Chuck Klein (#139) in right.  He'd appear in 45 games for the Cubs, batting .258, before the club released the former All-Star on July 5th.  It was apparently a surprising move, and at least six teams bid on Cuyler's services before he opted to sign with the Reds.  With the Reds, Cuyler appeared in 62 games and batted .251, while playing for a losing team for the first time in his career.  For the entire season, Cuyler played in 107 games and batted just .258 with three stolen bases.

1925  Exhibits (W461)
1933 Goudey #23
1933 Tattoo Orbit (R305)
1934 Goudey #90
1960 Fleer Baseball Greats #75

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1925 Exhibits (W461)
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2019 Panini Diamond Kings #41

131 - Cuyler non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/26/21.

Sources:

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Sunday, August 15, 2021

#48 "Rick" Ferrell - Boston Red Sox


Richard Benjamin Ferrell
Boston Red Sox
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  160
Born:  October 12, 1905, Durham, NC
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Browns 1929-1933; Boston Red Sox 1933-1937; Washington Senators 1938-1941; St. Louis Browns 1941-1943; Washington Senators 1944-1945, 1947
Died:  July 27, 1995, Bloomfied Hills, MI (89)
Hall of Fame Induction:  1984

Rick Ferrell is regarded as the one of the best catchers in baseball during the 1930s and early 1940s, while playing for Browns, Red Sox and Senators.  Ferrell was the American League's starting catcher in the inaugural All-Star Game in 1933 and throughout parts of 18 seasons in the majors he was an eight-time All-Star.  His younger brother Wes (#94) was his teammate with the Red Sox for three and half seasons, and the brothers made an impressive battery for Boston.  A dependable hitter, Ferrell batted over .300 in four different seasons.  He hit a career high .315 in 1932 with the Browns and drove in a career high 77 runs in 1933 while splitting the season between the Browns and the Red Sox.  But Ferrell was mostly famous for his durability and defense behind the plate, and later in his career he became known for his ability to successfully handle the Senators' many knuckle ball pitchers.

Ferrell led the league in runners caught stealing four times and was within the top five for fielding percentage among catchers every season of his big league career.  Upon his retirement, he had caught more games than any other player in the history of the game with his 1,806 games caught mark broke by Carlton Fisk in 1988.  Ferrell batted .281 with 1,692 hits for his career.  He served as a coach for the Senators in 1948 and 1949, then for the Tigers between 1950 and 1954.  Ferrell then joined the Tigers front office where he held various positions, including general manager, between 1955 and 1992.  Ferrell was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1995.

Building the Set
July 16, 2021 from Port Washington, NY (Clean Sweep Auctions) - Card #22
A boring virtual work meeting got the best of me in mid-July and I found myself browsing eBay for reasonably priced cards to add to my slowly growing Diamond Stars set.  I have no rhyme or reason as to how I'm collecting this set, and I imagine I'll get to the point where all I need are the pricey Hall of Fame cards of the more well known players.  For this particular mission however, I set out searching for commons, relatively speaking, and semi-stars and I happily came away with four new cards.  Three cards, including this Ferrell card, a surprisingly non-pricey Hall of Fame card, came from Clean Sweep Auctions in Port Washington, New York, and a fourth card came separately from eBay seller booklyn426 from, appropriately enough, Brooklyn.  It's been slow-going building this set, and that's honestly what I expected.  With my disposable income focused on building our 1965 Topps set, and with decent cards from the Diamond Stars set averaging $30 to $40 a piece, I'm happy to take my time and enjoy what could be a lengthy journey.

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

The Card / Red Sox Team Set
Ferrell is shown posing with his catcher's mitt against what I believe to be a 1930s-style batting cage.  The tip on the back instructs catchers how to track down foul pop flys, including the important adage, "Don't make the mistake of whipping off your mask too quickly."

1935 Season
Ferrell was the Red Sox' opening day catcher and he'd start 126 games behind the plate for the club, with Moe Berg (#121) serving as his primary back-up.  He hit .301 with three home runs and 61 RBIs, but the big story was his brother Wes.  With his brother behind the plate, Wes Ferrell went 25-14 with a 3.52 ERA, leading the leagues in wins and complete games with 31.  Wes was runner-up for the A.L. MVP honors behind Tigers' slugger Hank Greenberg (#54).

1933 Goudey #197
1936 Goudey
1940 Play Ball #21
1961 Fleer Baseball Greats #105
2013 Topps Gypsy Queen #213

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1933 Goudey #197
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2015 Topps Archives #302

249 - Ferrell non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/26/21.

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Sunday, August 8, 2021

#26 "Pepper" Martin - St. Louis Cardinals


Johnny Leonard Roosevelt Martin
St. Louis Cardinals
Third Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'8"  Weight:  170
Born:  February 29, 1904, Temple, OK
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1928, 1930-1940, 1944
World Series Appearances:  St. Louis Cardinals 1928, 1931, 1934
Died:  March 5, 1965, McAlester, OK (61)

As the regular third baseman for the Gashouse Gang of the 1930s, Pepper Martin used his aggressive base running and steady hitting to help lead the Cardinals to two World Series titles in 1931 and 1934.  Martin made his debut with the Cardinals in 1928, and appeared in one game of that season's World Series against the Yankees.  But he earned national prominence for his starring role in the 1931 World Series, in which his Cardinals defeated the favored Athletics in seven games.  Martin set a record with 12 hits in the series, batting an even .500 with four doubles a home run, five stolen bases and five RBIs.  His offense almost single-handedly led the team, who collectively batted just .205 without Martin.  Martin's aggressive style of play led to frequent injuries, and he'd spend the remainder of his big league career often battling ailments.  In 1933, Martin led off and played third base for the National League in the first ever All-Star Game.  It was his first of four total All-Star Game appearances.  He led the league in runs scored in 1933, and led the league in stolen bases three times.

For his career, Martin batted .279 with 1,227 hits, 270 doubles and 146 stolen bases.  He went on to be a long-time minor league manager, still playing occasionally, between 1945 and 1959.  Martin had a short stint as a major league coach with the Cubs for the final month of the 1955 season.  He was inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2017.

Building the Set
July 16, 2021 from Port Washington, NY (Clean Sweep Auctions) - Card #21
A boring virtual work meeting got the best of me in mid-July and I found myself browsing eBay for reasonably priced cards to add to my slowly growing Diamond Stars set.  I have no rhyme or reason as to how I'm collecting this set, and I imagine I'll get to the point where all I need are the pricey Hall of Fame cards of the more well known players.  For this particular mission however, I set out searching for commons, relatively speaking, and semi-stars and I happily came away with four new cards.  Three cards, including this Martin card, came from Clean Sweep Auctions in Port Washington, New York, and a fourth card came separately from eBay seller booklyn426 from, appropriately enough, Brooklyn.  It's been slow-going building this set, and that's honestly what I expected.  With my disposable income focused on building our 1965 Topps set, and with decent cards from the Diamond Stars set averaging $30 to $40 a piece, I'm happy to take my time and enjoy what could be a lengthy journey.

Variations Available
1 - 1935 / green back / 1934 statistics / 1935 copyright ✅
2 - 1936 / blue back / 1935 statistics / 1935 copyright 

The Card / Cardinals Team Set
This is a wonderful card for the life-time Cardinal Martin, displaying the third baseman smiling after a faux swing while the two Cardinals on a bat peak through on his jersey.  The tip on the back is a bit odd, warning younger players not to sharpen the spikes on their cleats too much and also cautioning against changing your mind mid-slide.

1935 Season
Martin was again the regular third baseman for the Cardinals, appearing in 135 games for the second place club, and making 111 starts at the hot corner.  He also made 15 starts in the outfield.  Martin was a member of an impressive Cardinals infield in 1935, along with Ripper Collins (#116) at first, Frankie Frisch (#17) at second and Leo Durocher (#127) at shortstop.  He made his third straight trip to the All-Star Game, again leading off and playing third.  Martin batted .299 for the season, finishing second in the league in stolen bases with 20.  He also was second on the Cardinals with 121 runs scored behind team-leader Joe Medwick (#66).

1933 Goudey #62
1933 DeLong Gum (R333) #17
1934-36 Batter-Up (R318) #125
1936 Goudey
2002 Fleer Fall Classic #80

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1933 Goudey #62
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2004 Fleer Greats of the Game #9

99 - Martin non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/26/21.

Sources:

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Sunday, August 1, 2021

#57 "Cy" Blanton - Pittsburgh Pirates


Darrell Elijah Blanton
Pittsburgh Pirates
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  180
Born:  July 6, 1908, Waurika, OK
Major League Teams:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1934-1939; Philadelphia Phillies 1940-1942
Died:  September 13, 1945, Norman, OK (37)

Cy Blanton's finest season came during his rookie year of 1935, when he went 18-13 with a 2.58 ERA in 35 games for the fourth place Pirates.  He won 13, 14 and 11 games over the next three seasons but never came close to duplicating the efforts from that first break-out year.  Blanton made his first All-Star team in 1937, and went on to lead the league in games started with 34.  He faced only one batter in that All-Star Game, striking out Joe DiMaggio (#126).  Blanton suffered irreparable elbow damage in 1939 after throwing a complete game no-hitter in an exhibition game on Easter Sunday against the Indians.  He was never the same pitcher.  Blanton signed with the Phillies in May 1940, and he'd play his final three big league seasons with the club.  In 1941, pitching for a Phillies team that would ultimately lose 111 games, Blanton was the team's sole All-Star Game representative, although he wouldn't appear in the game.  He struggled with the Phillies and was released in June 1942 after a stint in the hospital with a kidney ailment.

Blanton signed with the Philadelphia Athletics in spring 1943, but didn't report to the team and was released.  He ultimately landed with the independent Hollywood Stars in the Pacific Coast League, where he appeared in 38 games in 1943 and 1944.  Suffering from alcoholism, Blanton was suspended from the Stars and returned home to Oklahoma.  In August 1945 he was admitted to the Central Oklahoma State Hospital for the mentally ill and he passed away in September due to cirrhosis of the liver and toxic psychosis.

Building the Set
July 16, 2021 from Port Washington, NY (Clean Sweep Auctions) - Card #20
A boring virtual work meeting got the best of me in mid-July and I found myself browsing eBay for reasonably priced cards to add to my slowly growing Diamond Stars set.  I have no rhyme or reason as to how I'm collecting this set, and I imagine I'll get to the point where all I need are the pricey Hall of Fame cards of the more well known players.  For this particular mission however, I set out searching for commons, relatively speaking, and semi-stars and I happily came away with four new cards.  Three cards, including this Blanton card, came from Clean Sweep Auctions in Port Washington, New York, and a fourth card came separately from eBay seller booklyn426 from, appropriately enough, Brooklyn.  It's been slow-going building this set, and that's honestly what I expected.  With my disposable income focused on building our 1965 Topps set, and with decent cards from the Diamond Stars set averaging $30 to $40 a piece, I'm happy to take my time and enjoy what could be a lengthy journey.

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

The Card / Pirates Team Set
This is easily Blanton's most well-known and popular baseball card appearance.  The tip on the back implores pitchers to use off speed pitches to keep batters off balance, and stresses the importance of locating pitches off the plate in the hope a batter will chase.  His won-loss total while pitching for the Double-A Albany Senators is listed on the bottom instead of his 0-1 record from his one game with the Pirates in 1934.

1935 Season
In his finest season, Blanton was by far the Pirates' best pitcher and starred with shortstop Arky Vaughan (#151) as the team's top players.  He used an effective fastball with a steady mix of off speed pitches to make him one of the hardest to hit pitchers in the National League.  Blanton won the league's ERA title with a 2.58 mark and he owned the league's highest WAR (7.2) for pitchers.  He threw 23 shutouts and four shutouts, which tied him for the league lead with four other pitchers.

Phillies Career
Blanton pitched for three seasons with the Phillies, with the club losing at least 100 games in each season and finishing in last place in the league.  He was one of the only semi-effective pitchers for a bad, bad team.  

He suffered another elbow injury in 1940, but recovered and was the team's opening day starting pitcher in 1941.  He returned to the club briefly in 1942 and was hit hard in most of his final six appearances that year.  In 47 total games with the Phillies, Blanton was 10-20 with a 4.55 ERA over 263 innings pitched.

1934-36 Batter-Up (R318) #88
1935 Goudey 4-in-1 (R321)
1936 Goudey Wide Pen Premiums
(R314) #A7
1991 Conlon Collection TSN #134

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1934-36 Batter-Up (R318) #88
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1991 Conlon Collection TSN #134

21 - Blanton non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/24/21.

Sources:

Next Card: #58 Glenn Myatt - Cleveland Indians
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