1934-1936 Diamond Stars: #78 Joe Kuhel

Sunday, May 22, 2022

#78 Joe Kuhel - Washington Senators

Joseph Anthony Kuhel

Washington Senators

First Base

Bats: Left Throws: Left Height: 6'0" Weight: 180

Born: June 25, 1906, Cleveland, OH

Major League Teams: Washington Senators 1930-1937; Chicago White Sox 1938-1943; Washington Senators 1944-1946; Chicago White Sox 1946-1947

World Series Appearances: Washington Senators 1933

As a Manager: Washington Senators 1948-1949

Died: February 26, 1984, Kansas City, KS (77)

Joe Kuhel was one of the best defensive first baseman of his era, and his power numbers suffered throughout his career as a result of the number of home games he played in spacious Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. Kuhel was a steady hitter throughout the 1930s and early 1940s, batting a career-best .322 in 1933 and helping the Senators win the American League pennant. He struggled in the World Series however, as his club fell to the Giants in five games. Kuhel drove in at least 100 runs twice (1933, 1936) and hit a career-high 27 home runs for the White Sox in 1940. He spent his 18-year big league playing career entirely with two franchises, having two separate stints with both the Senators and White Sox.

April 30, 2022 - Inside a mostly empty Music Pier

Playing in his final games in 1947, Kuhel retired with 2,212 career hits, a .277 batting average, 131 home runs and 1,049 RBIs. His longevity as a first baseman puts him fairly high on several all-time leaders lists for the position, including assists (32nd with 1,163), games played (16th with 2,057) and putouts (10th with 19,386). Kuhel managed in the majors briefly, guiding the Senators to a 106-201 record over two seasons in 1948 and 1949. He managed the Yankees' top farm team, the Kansas City Blues, in 1950.

Building the Set

May 3, 2022 from Wenonah, NJ (Gar Miller Cards) - Card #52

Growing up in South Jersey, I'd look forward to the Ocean City Baseball Card show every summer, saving my precious birthday or gas mowing money so that I could spend it all during one glorious afternoon inside the Ocean City Music Pier among dozens of tables of vintage baseball cards. When my wife Jenna texted me that there was a baseball card show coming up in Ocean City on April 30th, I admittedly got giddy. We needed 11 cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, I had plans to begin collecting a 1969 Topps set, and I figured I'd add a Diamond Stars card or two to that growing set. We loaded the family in the car, trekked down to Ocean City, and I stepped inside the Music Pier for the first time in over 20 years.

The memories came flooding back, but none of the former baseball card dealers from my youth did. There were maybe 15 tables scattered on the lower portion of the Music Pier floor and I immediately scanned mostly shiny slabbed cards, bobble heads, signed jerseys, and nary a vintage baseball card in sight. It was a little depressing. Determined to come away with something, anything for my collection, I scoured a "3 for $20" box and came away with a few cards for Doug's collection, namely Alec Bohm relic cards, and six cards from sets I'm not even collecting yet.

All of this is meant as a prelude to how this Kuhel card ended up in my collection. My budgeted show money burning a hole in my pocket, I navigated over to Gar Miller Cards' online store when we got home and held my own virtual baseball card show. I added four cards to our Diamond Cards set, crossed off three more cards for our 1965 Topps set and threw in a few cool cards to add to the 1969 Topps pile I've started.

Variations Available

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

2 - 1935 / blue back / 1934 statistics / 1935 copyright

3 - 1936 / blue back / 1935 statistics / 1935 copyright

Cards 73 through 84 were issued in 1935 with either green or blue ink on the back and statistics from 1934. These same 12 cards were issued again in 1936 with blue ink on the back and statistics from 1935. The Kuhel card for my set is the first of the three variations available, issued in 1935 with green ink used for the back.

The Card / Senators Team Set

The #3 peaking through on the back of Kuhel's jersey is a little mysterious, as according to his Baseball Reference page, Kuhel didn't wear that number until the 1938 season when he was playing for the White Sox. Kuhel wore #23, #21, #2, #5, #6 and #7 during his first stint with the Senators. The defensive tip on the back encourages first baseman to not fear ranging too far off the bag in order to track down ground balls, and to count on your pitcher to cover the base if needed.

1935 Season

Once again the everyday first baseman for the Senators, Kuhel led the league with 723 plate appearances. He batted .261 with a pair of home runs and 74 RBIs as his club finished in sixth place in the league. He led all American League first baseman with 150 double plays turned.