1934-1936 Diamond Stars: July 2023

Sunday, July 2, 2023

#114 Roger Cramer - Boston Red Sox

Roger Maxwell Cramer

Boston Red Sox

Outfield

Bats: Left Throws: Right Height: 6'2" Weight: 185

Born: July 22, 1905, Beach Haven, NJ

Major League Teams: Philadelphia Athletics 1929-1935; Boston Red Sox 1936-1940; Washington Senators 1941; Detroit Tigers 1942-1948

World Series Appearances: Philadelphia Athletics 1931; Detroit Tigers 1945

Died: September 9, 1990, Manahawkin, NJ (85)

Doc Cramer was as a successful lead-off hitter and center fielder for 20 seasons, leading the American League seven times in at-bats between 1933 and 1942. Originally signed by the Athletics, Cramer's break-out year came in 1932 when he batted .336 for Connie Mack's club. Cramer would bat .295 in 1933, attaining a career-high with 75 RBIs. He was an All-Star five times, and while he didn't hit for power, he was regularly among the league leaders in singles, doubles and triples. An excellent fielder, Cramer was often at the top of the leaderboard for all center fielders, leading the league in assists twice, putouts three times and fielding percentage three times. He hit for the cycle on June 10, 1934.

Cramer's last big season came in 1945 with the Tigers. Now 39, he batted .275 and helped lead his team to the World Series, where he batted .379 (11 for 29). The Tigers defeated the Cubs that year in seven games. His last major league action came in 1948, and he'd retire with 2,705 hits (currently 69th all-time), 1,357 runs scored, 396 doubles, 109 triples and 9,140 at-bats (currently 67th all-time). Owning an impressive .296 career batting average, Cramer has the most hits of any player to have retired before 1975 and not gain election into the Hall of Fame. He'd serve as a coach with the Tigers in 1948 and with the White Sox between 1951 and 1953.

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 / Red Sox Team Set

The photo used is a retouched picture from 1932 or 1933, which originally featured Cramer in an Athletics uniform. Given his star status, Cramer would have been a good pick to be included if National Chicle had produced a fourth series of Diamond Stars cards in the 1930s. The back of the card highlights Cramer's success as a contact hitter. He hit 37 career home runs, with his season high coming in 1933 with eight. He had five seasons with at least 600 plate appearances and zero home runs.

1937 Season

Cramer was again the everyday center fielder for the Red Sox, appearing in 133 games overall and batting .305 with 51 RBIs. His average was third on the team behind shortstop Joe Cronin (#123) and right fielder Ben Chapman (#38), who both batted .307. Cramer was named to his second All-Star team, but he'd not play in the game. He led the American League with 17 sacrifices.