1934-1936 Diamond Stars: December 2021

Sunday, December 12, 2021

#146 Johnny Moore - Philadelphia Phillies

John Francis Moore

Philadelphia Phillies

Outfield

Bats: Left Throws: Right Height: 5'10" Weight: 175

Born: March 23, 1902, Waterville, CT

Major League Teams: Chicago Cubs 1928-1929, 1931-1932; Cincinnati Reds 1933-1934; Philadelphia Phillies 1934-1937; Chicago Cubs 1945

World Series Appearances: Chicago Cubs 1932

Died: April 4, 1991, Bradenton, FL (89)

Johnny Moore quietly enjoyed a productive major league career, playing in parts of 10 seasons with the Cubs, Reds and Phillies. First given the chance to play every day in 1932 at the age of 30, Moore was the regular center fielder for the Cubs and he batted over .300 for the first of five seasons during his career. After a full season with the Reds in 1933, he was dealt to the Phillies where he again quietly put up solid offensive numbers while playing right and then left field regularly for the club between 1934 and 1937. Moore's best season came in 1934 when he batted .343 for the Phillies with 11 home runs and 93 RBIs. Combined with his 16 games with the Reds early that season, Moore drove in a career high 98 runs. He'd repeat that success in 1935, batting .323 with 19 home runs (a career high) and 93 RBIs. Injuries and the need for Phillies owner Gerry Nugent to find cash led to Moore being sold to the Los Angeles Angels in the Pacific Coast League following the 1937 season.

1937 Wheaties Series 9

He toiled in the strong Pacific Coast League for eight seasons, hitting consistently and driving in runs, but never getting the call to report to the Angels' major league affiliate, the Chicago Cubs. Finally, in 1945 and with Moore now 43, the Cubs recalled the outfielder and he appeared in his final seven big league games before retiring. He went to work scouting for the Boston Braves, and over a 22-year period was responsible for signing Eddie Mathews, Del Crandall and Lew Burdette. Moore finished up his career in baseball as a scout for the expansion Montreal Expos between 1968 and 1971.

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 / Phillies Team Set

For such a productive player from his era, Moore's baseball card appearances overall from his playing days were scarce. The narrative on the back of the card does a great job summarizing Moore's resiliency in sticking around in the minor leagues early in his career, and that resiliency would continue throughout his playing days.

1936 Season

The Phillies, long a second division club, finished the 1936 season with a 54-100 record under player-manager Jimmie Wilson (#22). Moore appeared in 124 games, batting a team-leading .328 while hitting 16 home runs and driving in 68. On July 22nd, Moore enjoyed a three home run day against the Pirates at the Baker Bowl, going 4 for 5 overall with six RBIs and four runs scored. Moore started 74 games in left field and 32 games in right field as manager Wilson attempted to jump start his offense with outfield combinations consisting of Moore, Ernie Sulik, Lou Chiozza (#80) or the re-acquired Chuck Klein (#139).

Phillies Career

Moore was acquired from the Reds on May 16, 1934, with Syl Johnson for Ten Kleinhans, Art Ruble and Wes Schulmerich. He'd lead the team three seasons in a row (1934-1936) in batting, while supplying a generous supply of power. His 19 home runs in 1935 were second on the club behind first baseman Dolph Camilli, who had 25. Moore received MVP votes in 1935, finishing 15th in the final tally. In 489 games with the Phillies, he batted. .329 with 55 home runs and 313 RBIs, providing a bright spot for the franchise during one of their many lengthy bad stretches.

1934 Butterfinger (R310) #45a

1936 Exhibits Four-in-One (W463-6) #6

1994 Conlon Collection
TSN #1184

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card: 1934 Butterfinger (R310) #45

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0): N/A

Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1994 Conlon Collection TSN #1184

15 - Moore non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/10/21.

Sources:

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card: #145 Johnny Mize - St. Louis Cardinals

Next Card: #147 Hugh Mulcahy - Philadelphia Phillies

Sunday, December 5, 2021

#27 "Pie" Traynor MG - Pittsburgh Pirates

Harold Joseph Traynor
Pittsburgh Pirates
Third Base-Manager

Bats: Right Throws: Right Height: 6'0" Weight: 170
Born: November 11, 1898, Framingham, MA
Major League Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates 1920-1935, 1937

World Series Appearances: Pittsburgh Pirates 1925, 1927

As a Manager: Pittsburgh Pirates 1934-1939

Died: March 16, 1972, Pittsburgh, PA (73)

Hall of Fame Induction: 1948

The greatest third baseman of his era, Pie Traynor played his entire 17-year big league career with the Pirates. He helped the club win a World Series title in 1925, batting .346 (9 for 26) in the seven-game series against the Senators. Traynor batted over .300 in ten different seasons, attaining a career high in hits with 208 in 1923 and hitting a career-high .366 in 1930. His lifetime batting average was .320. He drove in over 100 runs in seven seasons, a record for third baseman until surpassed by Mike Schmidt. Traynor led the league in triples with 19 in 1923, and he's currently 30th on the all-time triples list with 164. He had 371 career doubles and astonishingly only struck out 278 times over 1,941 games and 8,298 plate appearances. An adept bunter, Traynor twice led the league in sacrifices. He was named to the first two All-Star Games in 1933 and 1934, and was the National League's starting third baseman in the 1934 contest. Exceptional defensively, Traynor's 2,289 career putouts at third base are fifth all-time.

He was named the Pirates' player-manager during the 1934 season, and he held that position through the 1939 season. Pittsburgh nearly went back to the World Series in 1938, but they fell to the Cubs following the Gabby Hartnett (#134) home run in the infamous Homer in the Gloamin' game at Wrigley Field on September 28, 1938. Traynor had a lifetime managerial record of 457-406. Traynor later served as long-time and popular radio host in Pittsburgh between 1944 and 1965. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1948, the first third baseman to be voted in by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Traynor threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 3 of the 1971 World Series and passed away a few months later. His #20 was posthumously retired by the Pirates before their home opener in 1972.

November 5, 2021 - In front of Traynor's plaque
Building the Set

November 10, 2021 from Blue Bell, PA - Card #35

This was a belated birthday present to myself, funded partially with birthday money given to me by my mother-in-law. Not wanting to put said birthday money to use for something practical, I opted instead for a somewhat pricey card for my growing Diamond Stars set. And while the birthday money didn't quite cover all of the price of this card, it provided a significant enough amount to allow me to pull the trigger on eBay seller's teamplatinum offer to me after I had added it to my watch list a few days earlier. This card became the most expensive card added to my set to date, eclipsing the Earl Averill (#35) card, added in October.

And the post office made things interesting for me too. I received notification that the seller had shipped the card from Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, in October, but then the card spent some quality time apparently sitting in a distribution center in Philadelphia before finally finding its way to me on November 10th. In the interim, our family took a trip to Cooperstown and our youngest son Ben obliged me with a picture underneath Traynor's plaque in the Hall of Fame Gallery.

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. Traynor shows up again as card #99, 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 / Pirates Team Set

The tip on the back of the card provides guidance on where to stand in the batter's box, depending on your arm length and swinging style. It also implores the reader to study Traynor's form, given the current Pirates manager's success over the years while batting.

1935 Season

As the Pirates' player-manager, Traynor played in 57 games, inserting himself into the line-up with 49 starts at third base. His throwing arm diminished, Traynor committed 18 errors in those 49 games. The veteran Tommy Thevenow received the majority of starts at third base for the Pirates during the season. Traynor batted .279 with 10 doubles, a home run and 36 RBIs. His Pirates team finished the year with a 86-67 record, 13 1/2 games behind the Cubs, and in fourth place in the National League.