#25 Walter Berger - Boston Braves

Walter Anton Berger

Boston Braves

Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  198

Born:  October 10, 1905, Chicago, IL

Major League Teams:  Boston Braves 1931-1935; Boston Bees 1936-1937; New York Giants 1937-1938; Cincinnati Reds 1938-1940; Philadelphia Phillies 1940

World Series Appearances:  New York Giants 1937; Cincinnati Reds 1939

Died:  November 30, 1988, Redondo Beach, CA (83)

Wally Berger enjoyed a solid multi-year run in the early 1930s in which he was the top player for the Boston Braves/Bees franchise, earning MVP votes in each season between 1932 and 1936.  Berger hit 38 home runs in his rookie season of 1930, a record for rookies that stood until 1987 when broken by Mark McGwire, and he drove in 119 RBIs, a National League rookie record that was in place until surpassed by Albert Pujols in 2001.  Berger was a four-time All-Star and the National League's starting center fielder in the inaugural All-Star Game in 1933.  Of the 18 players who started the 1934 All-Star Game, Berger is the only one not currently in the Hall of Fame.  He never topped the 38 home runs he hit in 1930, but he led the league in 1935 with 34 home runs and a career-high 130 RBIs.  Shoulder and hand injuries suffered during the 1936 season hurt his power numbers in subsequent years, and Berger would retire following a final season in the minors in 1941, playing for the Cubs' top affiliate, the Los Angeles Angels.

Upon his retirement, Berger owned a career .300 average with 242 home runs and 898 RBIs, with his home run tally 12th on the all-time list following the 1940 season.  He briefly scouted with the Giants and Yankees in the late 1940s before leaving baseball for good.

Building the Set

November 6, 2021 from Cooperstown, NY (Seventh Inning Stretch) - Card #34

Needing a quick vacation and wanting to take our sons to Cooperstown for the first time, we took advantage of the annual NJEA Teacher Convention in which public schools are closed for a few days in early November.  We loaded our car on Thursday morning with a loose plan of spending two days in Cooperstown and the surrounding area, shopping in the village, soaking in the Hall of Fame exhibits and eating a few good dinners.  The 4 1/2 hour drive to Otsego County was scenic and enjoyable.  Most of the day Friday was spent in the Hall of Fame and Saturday was dedicated largely to shopping in the many stores, mostly baseball related, located in the blocks surrounding the Hall.

We had spent a little bit of time in the multi-level Seventh Inning Stretch, located adjacent to Doubleday Field, on Friday.  But on Saturday I wanted to dig in to their haphazard, loosely alphabetical, collection of baseball cards for sale on their second floor.  I spent close to 45 minutes going through the boxes, and this Berger card was one of about a dozen cards I picked out among the glorious mess of cards covering all eras between early 20th Century the late 2010s.  Berger was the most expensive card of the lot at $35.  A few cards were added for our ongoing 1965 Topps set and I also couldn't resist picking out a few low-priced cards for our future 1959 and 1969 Topps sets.

Variations Available

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

The final 12 cards in the Diamond Stars set, released as part of series three in 1936, contain the exact same photos and players as earlier cards from the set.  Berger shows up again as card #108, with the same text on the back save for his 1935 statistics at the bottom replacing his 1934 statistics.  With the Braves changing their nickname to the Bees for the start of the 1936 season, National Chicle painted over the Braves word mark and logo for Berger's second card.  Also, the ink on the back of card #108 is blue, similar to all cards from the third series.

The Card / Braves Team Set

A quick search of Getty Images turned up what appears to be the source photo used for Berger's card, taken by legendary photograph Charles Conlon.  I've always thought of this as one of the more iconic cards from the set, featuring a great look at the Braves' jersey from the era, a colorful background and a few faceless teammates making cameos for good measure.  The back of the card gives a few tips to aspiring batters on how best to stride toward a pitch and what do with your arms while swinging.

1935 Season

One of Berger's best season, he led the league in both home runs and RBIs as mentioned above, while batting .295 as the Braves' regular center fielder.  The Braves were awful, going 38-115, and Berger was truly one of the only bright spots on the team.  His 34 home runs accounted for 45% of the entire team's total (75) with Babe Ruth (#109) finishing second on the team with six home runs.  Berger started 149 games in center for Boston, with Tommy Thompson getting the other four starts.  He was also again the starting center fielder for the National League All-Stars, but went 0 for 2 in the contest with a strikeout against Lefty Grove (#1).

Phillies Career

On May 10, 1940, the Reds released Berger and the now veteran outfielder signed with the Phillies five days later on May 15th.  Berger had held out for a higher salary with the Reds in the spring, after hitting 14 home runs for the team during their pennant-winning 1939 season.  

The Reds ultimately relented, but Berger received minimal playing time and his release came as a surprise.  Berger appeared in 20 games for the Phillies, hitting a respectable .317 (13 for 41), including his final career home run on June 5th against Cubs pitcher Larry French.  Not receiving any playing time, Berger requested his release from the club, which was granted on July 5th.

1933 Goudey #98

1933 Tattoo Orbit (R305)

1936 Goudey

1939 Play Ball #99

1940 Play Ball #81

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1933 Goudey #98

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Conlon Collection TSN #1098

87 - Berger non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/13/21.

Sources:

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #24 "Sparky" Adams - Cincinnati Reds

Next Card: #26 "Pepper" Martin - St. Louis Cardinals

#111 Phil Cavarretta - Chicago Cubs

Philip Joseph Cavarretta

Chicago Cubs

First Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  175

Born:  July 19, 1916, Chicago, IL

Major League Teams:  Chicago Cubs 1934-1953; Chicago White Sox 1954-1955

World Series Appearances:  Chicago Cubs 1935, 1938, 1945

As a Manager:  Chicago Cubs 1951-1953

Died:  December 18, 2010, Liburn, GA (94)

Phil Cavarretta made his debut with the Cubs a few months after his 18th birthday, and he spent the next 22 years compiling an impressive playing career in Chicago.  He was a regular with the Cubs from the mid-1930s until the late-1940s, playing first base and all three outfield positions.  Cavarretta enjoyed a career resurgence in the mid-1940s after missing significant time between 1938 and 1940 with a hip injury and a broken ankle.  He made his first of three All-Star teams in 1944, and also led the league that season with 197 hits.  In 1945, Cavarretta won the league's batting title with a .355 mark and was named the National League MVP.  He batted .423 in the 1945 World Series, although the Cubs lost in seven games to the Tigers.  Towards the end of his time with the Cubs, Cavarretta served as the team's player-manager between 1951 and 1953, guiding the team to a 169-213 record and finishing as high as fifth place in 1952.  He spent a final two seasons playing for the White Sox before retiring.  Cavarretta appeared in 2,030 games, collecting 1,977 hits while batting .293.  His 1,927 hits while with the Cubs are currently 10th on the franchise's all-time leader's list, and he was the all-time Cubs leader in games played with 1,953 before Ernie Banks surpassed the mark in 1966.

Cavarretta managed in the minor leagues between 1956 and 1958, and again between 1965 and 1972.  He'd later serve as a major league coach for the Tigers (1961-1963) and Mets (1975-1978).  Cavarretta is a member of the Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame.

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.)

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.  I found the ad shown here within the pages of the The Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide, published in 1982.

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 / Cubs Team Set

This card, along with most of the contemporary cards issued for Cavarretta in the 1930s and 1940s, misspell his name with only one "R."  The text on the back of the card refers to how young Cavarretta was (20 years old as of July 19, 1936) and that he had only spent the 1934 season playing in the minor leagues.

1937 Season

The Cubs finished in second place in the National League, three games behind the pennant-winning New York Giants.  Cavarretta saw action in 106 games, making 84 total starts - 40 at first base, 38 in center field and six in left field.  The Cubs players with more starts at each of those positions than Cavarretta were Ripper Collins at first, Joe Marty in center field and Augie Galan in left field, none of whom appeared in the original Diamond Stars set.  Cavarretta batted .286 with five home runs and 56 RBIs.

1934-36 Batter-Up (R318) #101

1941 Double Play #103

1949 Bowman #6

1952 Topps #295

1955 Bowman #282

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1934-36 Batter-Up (R318) #101

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (2):  1952, 1954

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2014 Panini Golden Age #89

79 - Cavarretta non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/22/21.

Sources:

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #110 Pete Fox - Detroit Tigers

Next Card: #112 Leon Goslin - Detroit Tigers

#121 Moe Berg - Boston Red Sox

Morris Berg

Boston Red Sox

Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  185

Born:  March 2, 1902, New York, NY

Major League Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1923; Chicago White Sox 1926-1930; Cleveland Indians 1931; Washington Senators 1932-1934; Cleveland Indians 1934; Boston Red Sox 1935-1939

Died:  May 29, 1972, Belleville, NJ (70)

On the field, Moe Berg was a back-up catcher and pinch-hitter who played in parts of 15 seasons in the majors, appearing in the most games with the Red Sox and White Sox.  In 1928, he led all American League catchers with a 60.9% caught stealing percentage.  Collecting mostly singles, Berg hit a career high .287 in 1929 while also attaining a career high with 47 RBIs.  He was known for his intelligence, having graduated from Princeton University and Columbia Law School and developed a reputation around the game as an intellectual.  Casey Stengel (#150) would say of Berg he was "the strangest man ever to play baseball."  In 663 games, Berg collected 441 hits and batted .243 with 206 RBIs and only six home runs.  He would serve as the first base coach for the Red Sox in 1940 and 1941.

Off the field, and after retiring from baseball, Berg put his intellect and his ability to speak several languages to work for the U.S. Government as a spy during and after World War II.  He had previously traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia in the early 1930s.  

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, Berg was sent on missions to Yugoslavia, the Caribbean, South America and Italy to gather intelligence on resistance groups, assess the physical fitness of American troops and to serve as a spy of the Nazi nuclear program.  Following the war, Berg briefly worked for the CIA.  He was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Truman, but declined the honor without any public explanation.  Berg's story was told in the 2018 file The Catcher Was a Spy, starring Paul Rudd in the title role.

Building the Set

December 16, 2020 from Albion, NY

Within days of officially deciding to collect the Diamond Stars set, I found myself searching for the 1993 extension set consisting of 36 more "what if" cards this time issued by the Chicle Fantasy Company.  Individual cards from this set are very prevalent on eBay, but I wanted to buy a complete set to save myself some time and money.  Given this is a relatively modern set, I was somewhat surprised at the closing auction prices for previously sold complete sets and I was happy to win my set at a lower price.  These cards are gorgeous, and I can tell a lot of hard work and love for the originals went into making this tribute set.  What's more, the set's creators were smart enough to start the numbering with card #120, given the 1981 extension set had left off with #120.

As I slowly collect the originals from the 1930s, I'll also highlight each of the cards from these extension sets with their own posts.

Variations Available

1 - 1993 / blue back / no statistics / 1993 copyright

The Card / Red Sox Team Set

A Japanese flag is included in the multi-color background behind Berg, alluding to his time as an American spy during the war.  There's also what appears to be Japanese writing cleverly inserted on the baseball in Berg's catcher's mitt.  The narrative on the back of the card is clever as well, beginning "If you were to spy Moe Berg of the Red Sox," foreshadowing his future career in espionage.

1936 Season

Berg served as a seldom used back-up to Red Sox catcher and future Hall of Famer Rick Ferrell (#48).  He appeared in 39 games, making 31 starts, batting .240 with 19 RBIs.  The Red Sox finished in sixth place in the American League under manager Joe Cronin (#123) with a record of 74-80-1.

1933 Goudey #158

1939 Play Ball #103

1940 Play Ball #30

1991 Conlon Collection TSN #184

2014 Panini Golden Age #43

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1933 Goudey #158

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2014 Panini Golden Age #43

37 - Berg non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/22/21.

Sources:

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #120 Lon Warneke - Chicago Cubs

Next Card: #122 Harlond Clift - St. Louis Browns

#35 Earle Averill - Cleveland Indians

Howard Earl Averill

Cleveland Indians

Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'9"  Weight:  172

Born:  May 21, 1902, Snohomish, WA

Major League Teams:  Cleveland Indians 1929-1939; Detroit Tigers 1939-1940; Boston Braves 1941

World Series Appearances:  Detroit Tigers 1940

Died:  August 16, 1983, Everett, WA (81)

Hall of Fame Induction:  1975

Earl Averill patrolled center field for the Indians for over a decade, making the All-Star team in six consecutive seasons between 1933 and 1938.  He's the only American League outfielder to be named to each of the first six All-Star Games.  A power hitter who also hit for average, Averill hit at least 30 home runs in three seasons, and drove in at least 100 runs in five different seasons.  He collected a career-high 143 RBIs in 1931, finishing third in the league behind Lou Gehrig (#130) and Babe Ruth (#110).  Averill batted over .330 in five seasons, attaining a career high in 1936 with a .368 average.  That season he led the American League in hits (232) and triples (15).  Dealt to the Tigers in July 1939, Averill saw his only postseason action with Detroit in 1940.  Upon his retirement, he had 2,019 hits, a .318 career average, 238 home runs and 1,164 RBIs.  Averill still tops the Indians' all-time leaders list for runs (1,154), RBIs (1,084) and triples (121), and he's second on the all-time franchise list for hits (1,965, behind Nap Lajoie with 2,052 hits) and doubles (424, behind Tris Speaker with 486).

Averill's #3 was retired by the Indians in 1975, the same year the Veteran's Committee inducted him into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Building the Set

October 12, 2021 from Valley Cottage, NY - Card #33

This Averill card came courtesy of seller OLDBBCards Vintage Sports Cards from Valley Cottage, New York, and it represents the most expensive card I've added to my set yet.  I've been steadily adding commons from the set over the past year, sprinkled in with a few semi-stars, and I decided a star card was needed at some point.  That point came on my birthday when I took advantage of a 20% sale being offered by the seller, and I added this Averill card along with several cards needed for our 1965 Topps set to my eBay cart.  This could be the final card added to my Diamond Stars set for the year, as my Mom requested the set's checklist in case she needed to do a little extra Christmas shopping.  That puts an embargo on my purchases for 2021, and we'll see if Santa leaves anything for the set under the tree this year.

Variations Available

1 - 1934 / green back / 1933 statistics / 1934 copyright

2 - 1935 / green back / 1934 statistics / 1934 copyright ✅

The final 12 cards in the Diamond Stars set, released as part of series three in 1936, contain the exact same photos and players as earlier cards from the set.  Averill shows up again as card #100, with the same text on the back save for his 1935 statistics at the bottom replacing his 1934 statistics.  Also, the ink on the back of card #100 is blue, similar to all cards from the third series.

The Card / Indians Team Set

I'm assuming this card can be considered an uncorrected error, as National Chicle added the E to the end of Averill's first name on the card.  A quick review of his cards in the Trading Card Database shows no other cards with his first name spelled "Earle" from the era.  I tried to find the company advertised on the billboard behind Averill, but I think it's a made up name inserted by the artist.  Searches for "Burobeas Brand" and "Burobcas Brand" came up empty.

The tip on the back gives a batter bunting tips, which seemed odd to place on the card of a power hitter like Averill.  But he did own 55 career sacrifices, including a career-high 17 in his rookie season of 1929.

1935 Season

Averill was right in the middle of his the best years of his career in 1935, and he'd again make the All-Star team, but he'd miss the game after an unfortunate fireworks accident.  Lighting fireworks on July 1st, Averill had one explode in his hand, causing burns and lacerations to his hand, face and chest.  He missed a few weeks to recover and was back in the Indians' line-up on July 17th.  Averill's average dipped to .288 for the season and he had 19 home runs with 79 RBIs.

Phillies Connection

Averill's son, Earl Douglas Averill, also played in the majors between 1956 and 1963 with the Indians, Cubs, White Sox, Angels and Phillies.  Primarily a catcher, the younger Averill was dealt to the Phillies from the Angels on December 11, 1962 for outfielder Jacke Davis.  Averill was used almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter by the Phillies in 1963, appearing in 47 games with 27 of those appearances coming in the pinch-hitter role.  He batted .268 with three home runs and eight RBIs for the Phillies, playing in his final major league game on September 26, 1963.

1929-30 R315

1933 Goudey #194

1933 Tattoo Orbit (R305)

1939 Play Ball #143

1961 Fleer Baseball Greats #5

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1929-30 R315

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2018 Panini Diamond Kings #38

227 - Averill non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/15/21.

Sources:

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
The Phillies Room
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #34 Stanley Hack - Chicago Cubs

Next Card: #36 "Ernie" Lombardi - Cincinnati Reds