1934-1936 Diamond Stars: July 2022

Sunday, July 3, 2022

#112 Leon Goslin - Detroit Tigers

Leon Allen Goslin

Detroit Tigers

Outfield

Bats: Left Throws: Right Height: 5'11" Weight: 185

Born: October 16, 1900, Salem, NJ

Major League Teams: Washington Senators 1921-1930; St. Louis Browns 1930-1932; Washington Senators 1933; Detroit Tigers 1934-1937; Washington Senators 1938

World Series Appearances: Washington Senators 1924-1925, 1933; Detroit Tigers 1934-1935

Died: May 15, 1971, Bridgeton, NJ (70)

Hall of Fame Induction: 1968

South Jersey's own Goose Goslin compiled his Hall of Fame career playing 18 seasons primarily with the Senators. As one of the game's top left fielders of his era, Goslin led the league in triples in 1923 and 1925, and won the league's batting title in 1928 with a .379 mark. He collected at least 10 home runs in 12 different seasons, including a career best 37 home runs playing for the Senators and Browns in 1930. He also drove in 138 runs that season, another career-best, and Goslin collected at least 100 RBIs in 11 seasons, leading the league in 1924 with 129. He played in five different World Series, winning rings with the Senators in 1924 and the Tigers in 1935. Goslin's glove could at times be a liability, and he led all left fielders in errors in eight different seasons, with his 184 errors at the position currently second all-time behind fellow Hall of Famer Zack Wheat. His 3,826 putouts in left are currently fifth all-time and his 181 assists are sixth all-time.

Goslin was a lifetime .316 batter, with 2,735 hits, 500 doubles, 248 home runs and 1,612 RBIs. The Veterans Committee inducted him into the Hall of Fame in 1968.

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.)

Another great article was recently published to SABR's Baseball Cards Research Committee website taking a closer look at these extended cards.

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.

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 / Tigers Team Set

The back of the card mentions Goslin's start as a pitcher, and he made 18 appearances on the mound in 1920 for the Columbia Comers in the South Atlantic League before his strong bat necessitated a change to the outfield. His heroics from 1935 are also noted on the back. Goslin was second on the Tigers' in RBIs with 111, far behind the 168 driven in by slugger Hank Greenberg (#54). He appeared in five different World Series, batting a solid .287 (37 for 129) with five doubles, seven home runs and 19 RBIs.

1937 Season

In his penultimate season, Goslin appeared in 79 games for the Tigers, batting .238 with four home runs and 35 RBIs. He was the club's opening day left fielder, but started only 39 games at the position and in his final month with the team he was used almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter. He was released in October, signing with the Senators right before the start of the 1938 season, where he'd play in his final 38 big league games.