 |
 |
Alvin Floyd Crowder
Detroit Tigers
Pitcher
Born: January 11, 1899, Winston-Salem, NC
Major League Teams: Washington Senators 1926-1927; St. Louis Browns 1927-1930; Washington Senators 1930-1934; Detroit Tigers 1934-1936
World Series Appearances: Washington Senators 1933; Detroit Tigers 1934-1935
Died: April 3, 1972, Winston-Salem, NC (73)
Alvin Crowder spent three years in the army during World War I with assignments in the Philippines and Siberia. He was given the nickname General, as he shared the last name of the actual General Enoch Crowder, who designed and implemented the first military draft system in the U.S. Crowder, the pitcher, was a late bloomer, in part because of his military service. He debuted with the Senators in 1926 at the age of 27, and would notch his first 20-win season in 1928 as a member of the Browns. In June 1930, he was traded by the Browns with future Hall of Famer Heinie Manush (#30) back to the Senators for another future Hall of Famer, Goose Goslin (#112). Crowder would enjoy his best seasons in 1932 and 1933, going 26-13 and 24-15 respectively, leading the American League in wins both seasons. He pitched in the first All-Star Game in 1933, relieving starter Lefty Gomez (#118).
 |
| 1936 National Chicle Pastels (R312) |
In retirement, Crowder was instrumental in bringing a professional baseball team to his hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. (Also my home for a number of years in the 1990s.) Today, the Winston-Salem Dash, founded in 1945, are a High-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.
Building the Set
January 21, 2022 from Key West, FL (Quality Baseball Cards) - Card #44
Mid-January is never a fun time for me, and needing a break during a long work day I found myself on eBay looking for the remaining Dick Bartell (#15 and #101) variations I needed. I had recently added his most commonly found card from the set, noting his team as the Giants on the back, but I wanted to try to find his other two cards from the set as well.
In my travels, I found what I considered to be extremely unusual for this pandemic-induced collecting age - a large group of auctions from seller quality*cards from the Diamond Stars set with no bids, including the elusive Bartell card from the set's third series. I set my opening bids, and waited a few days for the auctions to close. Again, much to my surprise, there was little to no action on the auctions until their closing minutes. I lost a few auctions as the seconds ticked away, but I came away with six new cards overall, including this Crowder card for less than $40.
Variations Available
1 - 1936 / blue back / 1935 statistics / 1936 copyright
The Card / Tigers Team Set
National Chicle most likely used a picture of Crowder from his Senators days for this card, as you can see the number 5 on the back of his jersey. Crowder wore #15 with the Senators in 1931, but switched to #18 when he joined the Tigers. The back of the card foregoes a tip and instead recaps Crowder's career to date. His World Series victory features prominently.
1936 Season
In his final season, a right shoulder injury limited Crowder to nine games and he struggled mightily. He was 4-3 with a 8.39 ERA in 44 innings pitched in April, May and June before the Tigers placed him on the voluntarily retired list. It was thought he might come back in 1937, but he stayed in Winston-Salem and the Tigers officially released him on February 5, 1937.
|
|
|
|
|
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1933 Goudey #95
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0): N/A
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1994 Conlon Collection TSN #1277
51 - Crowder non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/30/22.
Sources:
Previous Card: #92 Ethan Allen - Philadelphia Phillies
Next Card: #94 Wes Ferrell - Boston Red Sox
No comments:
Post a Comment