1934-1936 Diamond Stars: #100 Earle Averill

Sunday, October 20, 2024

#100 Earle Averill - Cleveland Indians

Howard Earl Averill

Cleveland Indians

Outfield

Bats: Left Throws: Right Height: 5'9" Weight: 172

Born: May 21, 1902, Snohomish, WA

Major League Teams: Cleveland Indians 1929-39; Detroit Tigers 1939-40; Boston Braves 1941

World Series Appearances: Detroit Tigers 1940

Died: August 16, 1983, Everett, WA (81)

Hall of Fame Induction: 1975

Earl Averill patrolled center field for the Indians for over a decade, making the All-Star team in six consecutive seasons between 1933 and 1938. He's the only American League outfielder to be named to each of the first six All-Star Games. A power hitter who also hit for average, Averill hit at least 30 home runs in three seasons, and drove in at least 100 runs in five different seasons. He collected a career-high 143 RBIs in 1931, finishing third in the league behind Lou Gehrig (#130) and Babe Ruth (#110). Averill batted over .330 in five seasons, attaining a career high in 1936 with a .368 average. That season he led the American League in hits (232) and triples (15). Dealt to the Tigers in July 1939, Averill saw his only postseason action with Detroit in 1940. Upon his retirement, he had 2,019 hits, a .318 career average, 238 home runs and 1,164 RBIs. Averill still tops the Indians' all-time leaders list for runs (1,154), RBIs (1,084) and triples (121), and he's second on the all-time franchise list for hits (1,965, behind Nap Lajoie with 2,052 hits) and doubles (424, behind Tris Speaker with 486).

Averill's #3 was retired by the Indians in 1975, the same year the Veteran's Committee inducted him into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Building the Set

October 15, 2024 from Tempe, AZ (Desert Ice Sports) - Card #110

With only a handful of cards to go to complete my version of a master Diamond Stars set, I've come to the conclusion I have three potential avenues to completion. The first option is to shell out the cash and finish what I've started. The second option is to fill the missing spaces in the set with reprint cards. Once a cringe-worthy idea to me as a baseball card set collector, it's now a possibility worthy of consideration. The third option is to go after beat up, lesser quality, well-loved versions of these cards.

I combined the first and third options to acquire this Averill card. It had been on my eBay watch list for quite a while, and the word "Poor" in the item description likely kept a lot of potential buyers away. Now in hand, the card isn't that bad. I made what I considered a somewhat aggressive offer to the seller one afternoon while taking a break at work, with a "well, it can't hurt" the attitude. Much to my surprise, the seller accepted my offer the next day and the card was soon on its way from Desert Ice Sports in Tempe to me on the East Coast. I have nine more cards to go, and they're all high price tag cards.

Variations Available

1 - 1936 / blue back / 1935 statistics / 1935 copyright

The Card / Indians Team Set

This is the second Averill card in the set, with the outfielder first appearing on card #35. The final 12 cards in the Diamond Stars set, released as part of series three in 1936, contain the exact same photos and players as earlier cards from the set. This card has the same text on the back as his earlier card, save for his 1935 statistics at the bottom replacing his 1934 statistics. Also, the ink on the back of card #100 is blue, similar to all cards from the third series.

I'm assuming this card can be considered an uncorrected error, as National Chicle added the E to the end of Averill's first name on the card. The tip on the back gives a batter bunting tips, which seemed odd to place on the card of a power hitter like Averill. But he did own 55 career sacrifices, including a career-high 17 in his rookie season of 1929.

1936 Season

Averill was again an All-Star for the Indians, and he'd lead the American League in hits (232) and triples (15), as mentioned above. As one of the Tribe's top offensive players, Averill batted .378 with 28 home runs and 126 RBIs. His batting average gave him a second place finish in the league behind Luke Appling (#95), who had a .388 mark. Averill finished third in the postseason MVP voting, behind winner Gehrig and Appling. Averill batted third and played center field on August 23rd, the day Bob Feller (#128) made his first big league start for the Indians, pitching a complete game victory over the Browns.

Phillies Connection

Averill's son, Earl Douglas Averill, also played in the majors between 1956 and 1963 with the Indians, Cubs, White Sox, Angels and Phillies. Primarily a catcher, the younger Averill was dealt to the Phillies from the Angels on December 11, 1962 for outfielder Jacke Davis. Averill was used almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter by the Phillies in 1963, appearing in 47 games with 27 of those appearances coming in the pinch-hitter role. He batted .268 with three home runs and eight RBIs for the Phillies, playing in his final major league game on September 26, 1963.