1934-1936 Diamond Stars: #9 "Mickey" Cochrane MG

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.