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Johnny Leonard Roosevelt Martin
St. Louis Cardinals
Third Base
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.
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).
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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:
Previous Card: #25 Walter Berger - Boston Braves
Next Card: #27 "Pie" Traynor - Pittsburgh Pirates
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