1934-1936 Diamond Stars: October 2023

Sunday, October 15, 2023

#9 "Mickey" Cochrane MG - Detroit Tigers

Gordon Stanley Cochrane

Detroit Tigers

Catcher-Manager

Bats: Left Throws: Right Height: 5'10" Weight: 180

Born: April 6, 1903, Bridgewater, MA

Major League Teams: Philadelphia Athletics 1925-1933; Detroit Tigers 1934-1937

World Series Appearances: Philadelphia Athletics 1929-1931; Detroit Tigers 1934-1935

As a Manager: Detroit Tigers 1934-1937, 1938

Died: June 28, 1962, Lake Forest, IL (59)

Hall of Fame Induction: 1947

One of the greatest catchers of his era, Mickey Cochrane spent his 13-year career with the Athletics and Tigers, winning MVP honors in 1928 and 1934 and leading his teams to three World Series titles. As the backstop for Connie Mack's (#142) Athletics, Cochrane batted .331 in his rookie season of 1925 and his MVP title in 1928 was mainly due to his defensive skills. In 1929, with a line-up including Al Simmons (#2) and Jimmie Foxx (#64), Cochrane helped the Athletics reach and win the World Series, batting .331 with 37 doubles and 95 RBIs. Philadelphia would repeat in 1930, as Cochrane's .357 average was second on the team to only Simmons, who batted .381. In 1931, the Athletics fell short of their attempted three-peat, with many attributing some of the blame for the loss on Cochrane's inability to control the Cardinals' running game.

Cochrane was dealt to the Tigers following the 1933 season, and as the team's player-manager he'd win his second MVP award in 1934, again mainly on the strength of his solid work defensively. As a rookie manager in 1934, Cochrane guided the Tigers to a 101-win season, but they fell in the World Series to the Cardinals in seven games. He'd lead his club back to the World Series in 1935, with the Tigers downing the Cubs in six games. He was an All-Star in 1934 and 1935. On May 25, 1937, Cochrane was drilled in the head with a pitch from Yankees' pitcher Bump Hadley (#131), eventually leading to his early retirement. He batted .320 for his career and his .419 on-base percentage currently ranks 21st all-time. Cochrane was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1947 and onto the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame in 1982.

Building the Set

October 10, 2023 from Los Angeles, CA (Greg Morris Cards) - Card #92

I stumbled upon this card while taking a break during the work day, looking for reasonable eBay prices for the remaining 28 cards needed for our set. I've given Greg Morris Cards, from Los Angeles, quite a bit of my money over the past few years, but I feel what I paid for this card was a steal. The auction description labeled this card as being LOW GRADE, but honestly for a card that's nearly 90 years old it looks pretty good to me. This auction was bid on while attending one of my final work seminars in Dallas, won shortly after I came home and the card arrived the day following the Phillies' painful Game 2 loss to the Braves in the NLDS.

And now I'm writing this the day after the Phillies came back to win Games 3 and 4 against the Braves, sending them to the NLCS to face off against the Diamondbacks. We have souvenirs from our recent Wild Card series and NLDS visits still scattered about our kitchen area, and I thought I'd take a picture of Cochrane's card along with a few recent additions to our Phillies collections.

Variations Available

1 - 1934 / green back / 1933 statistics / 1934 copyright

2 - 1935 / green back / 1934 statistics / 1934 copyright ✅

3 - 1936 / blue back / 1935 statistics / 1934 copyright

The Card / Tigers Team Set

I'd consider this another iconic card from the Diamond Stars set, as it's a card I've seen for years in publications, under glass at baseball card shows and as an example of one of the key baseball cards from the 1930s. The tip on the back of the card addresses the catcher's throw when aiming to throw out would be base stealers. Cochrane led the league in runners caught stealing in 1926 (42) and 1932 (47) and he'd finish in the top five in nine different seasons. The back of catcher Al Lopez's card (#28) refers collectors to the tip on the back of Cochrane's card.

1935 Season

In his second season as Tigers' manager, Cochrane made 108 starts behind the plate and batted .319 with five home runs and 46 RBIs. His team was 93-58-1, finishing three games ahead of the Yankees for the pennant, and they'd defeat the Cubs in six games in the World Series. It was the first World Series title in Tigers' franchise history. This was to be his final full season as a player, as Cochrane would play in only 44 games in 1936 and 27 games in 1937 before retiring.

1931 W517 #54

1933 DeLong Gum #6

1933 Goudey #76

1940 Play Ball #180

1976 Topps #348

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card: 1928 Exhibits (W461)

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1): 1976

Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2022 Panini Diamond Kings #106

280 - Cochrane non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/13/23.

Sources:

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card: #8 Joe Vosmik - Cleveland Indians

Next Card: #10 Roy Mahaffey - Philadelphia Athletics

Sunday, October 1, 2023

#83 Paul Waner - Pittsburgh Pirates

Paul Glee Waner
Pittsburgh Pirates
Oufield

Bats: Left Throws: Left Height: 5'8" Weight: 153
Born: April 16, 1903, Harrah, OK
Major League Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates 1926-1940; Brooklyn Dodgers 1941; Boston Braves 1941-1942; Brooklyn Dodgers 1943-1944; New York Yankees 1944-1945

World Series Appearances: Pittsburgh Pirates 1927

Died: August 29, 1965, Sarasota, FL (62)

Hall of Fame Induction: 1952

Nicknamed "Big Poison" to go along with his younger brother Lloyd's (#16) nickname of "Little Poison," Paul Waner is one of the best outfielders in Pittsburgh Pirates franchise history. Waner played for 15 seasons with the Pirates, winning batting titles in 1927, 1934 and 1936. His sophomore season of 1927 was his best, as along with the batting title and career-high .380 average, he led the league in hits (237), triples (18) and RBIs (131) and was named league MVP. In the 1927 World Series, lost to the powerhouse Yankees in four games, Waner batted .333 (5 for 15). Waner was named to four All-Star teams, including the inaugural National League squad in 1933. Following his departure from the Pirates in 1940, Waner would spend the final five seasons of his career with the Braves, Dodgers and Yankees. He became the 7th member of the 3,000 hit club on June 19, 1942, as a member of the Braves.

Waner batted over .300 in 14 seasons and collected at least 200 hits in eight seasons. He retired with a .333 average, 3,152 hits (20th all-time), 1,627 runs scored, 605 doubles (15th all-time), 191 triples (10th all-time), 113 home runs and 1,309 RBIs. A fine right fielder, his 2,250 games played at the position are currently second all-time behind future Pirate superstar Roberto Clemente. Waner was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1952 and his brother Lloyd joined him in 1967. The Pirates' retired Waner's #11 in 2007 on the 55th anniversary of his Hall of Fame induction.

Building the Set

September 23, 2023 from The Philly Show (Ed's Old Baseball Cards) - Card #91

I wrote about this quick show visit over at The Phillies Room. Doug and I drove through a hard, steady rain on Saturday morning, navigated our way through the confusing admission lines, found the not-well-marked autograph pavilion, stood in line again, purchased our autograph tickets for Michael Lorenzen and Jim Thome and waited our turn.

For the first time ever, I spent all my allotted baseball card show money at one table and one table only. Technically, it was two tables, but the two dealers from the Buffalo area were working together and even provided me with a joint business card. From the Ed Hans side of the table, I found this Waner card needed for my Diamond Stars set build. From the Gary Nuchereno side of the table, I first settled on four star cards needed for our 1969 Topps set - all in good shape and very reasonably priced. After we secured Thome's and Lorenzen's autographs, I went back and found 11 needed commons and semistars from the same dealer's 1969 Topps binder.

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 Waner card for my set is the second of the three variations available, issued in 1935 with blue ink used for the back.

The Card / Pirates Team Set

There is quite a bit going on behind Waner on this card. National Chicle added a catcher, a home plate umpire and an on-deck batter instead of having Waner just shown smiling while holding his bat. The Pirates didn't have a player who wore #28 between 1932, the year they first wore uniform numbers and 1935. It would have been cool if the artist tasked with adding the on-deck batter had given him uniform #10, worn by Lloyd Waner.

The write-up on the back explains how Waner, being left-handed, has an advantage when he puts the ball in play as he's closer to first base. I don't follow what the "Turn around hitting" statement is supposed to mean?

1935 Season

Waner was again the regular right fielder for the Pirates, with his brother Lloyd usually next to him in center field. Waner appeared in 139 games, batting .321 with 176 hits as his Pirates finished in fourth place in the National League. He was sixth in the league with a .392 on-base percentage.

Phillies Connection

It doesn't appear it was ever an official arrangement, but Waner spent time in the early 1960s as a part-time hitting coach with the Phillies. A quick Google search turned up a few images of Waner wearing the red pinstripes of the Phillies, including the 1960 press photo shown above.