1934-1936 Diamond Stars: #104 Robert Rolfe

Sunday, January 5, 2025

#104 Robert Rolfe - New York Yankees

Robert Abial Rolfe

New York Yankees

Third Base

Bats: Left Throws: Right Height: 5'11" Weight: 170

Born: October 17, 1908, Penacook, NH

Major League Teams: New York Yankees 1931, 1934-42

World Series Appearances: New York Yankees 1936-39, 1941-42

As a Manager: Detroit Tigers 1949-52

Died: July 8, 1969, Gilford, NH (60)

Red Rolfe played in 10 major league seasons with the Yankees, reaching the World Series in six of those seasons and winning five World Series rings as a key member of the "Bronx Bombers" of the 1930s. As the team's regular third baseman, Rolfe went to four All-Star Games and provided both a steady glove and a reliable bat. His best season came in 1939 when he helped the Yankees reach the World Series by leading the league in runs (139), hits (213) and doubles (46) while hitting his career highs in batting average (.329) and home runs (14). He tied his career high with 80 RBIs that season as well. With his glove, Rolfe twice led the league in fielding percentage for third basemen (1935 and 1936).

Retiring following the 1942 season, Rolfe coached baseball and basketball at Yale University before returning to the majors in 1947 as a coach for the Yankees. He took over as manager of the Tigers beginning in 1949, going 278-256 over four years at the helm. Rolfe returned to his alma mater, Dartmouth, as their athletic director in 1954 where he stayed until retiring in 1967. In a 1969 Yankees fan poll, Rolfe was named the third baseman on the Yankees' all-time greatest team.

Building the Set

December 10, 2024 from Los Angeles, CA (Greg Morris Cards) - Card #111

The addition of this high-number Rolfe card was a pleasant surprise, and helped me avoid getting completely shut out from a series of auctions from Greg Morris Cards following yet another Diamond Stars set break by the dealer. On a whim, I spent an evening in early December searching for any of the final nine cards needed for my version of a Diamond Stars master set. Greg Morris Cards had a bunch of cards up for auction from the set, including most of the cards I needed. I entered my highest bid on each of them, waited a few days until the auctions closed, and came away with this Rolfe card for what I deemed to be a reasonable price.

This card joins the less pricey Rolfe card from early in the set (#29), added almost exactly four years to the day prior to this newer card arriving in the mail.

Variations Available

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

As mentioned and shown above, this is the second Rolfe card in the set, with the infielder first appearing on card #29. 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 #104 is blue, similar to all cards from the third series.

The Card / Yankees Team Set

There's all kinds of stuff going on in that Art Deco photo. Rolfe is presumably getting ready to make a throw from third to first while the shortstop (maybe?) looks on and an umpire preemptively makes a safe call even though Rolfe is still holding the ball. In the distance, a factory's smokestack sends smoke into the cloudless blue sky. Rolfe is wearing a Yankees road uniform, as those sported "New York" across the front while the Yankees home uniforms contained nothing but pinstripes up until 1936.

The back contains a fielding tip, advising the reader to learn how to anticipate in which direction a batted ball will go based on the location of the pitch. Rolfe had mastered this, according to the write-up, which is part of the reason he had become a successful fielder.

1936 Season

Rolfe was a year away from stardom and four straight All-Star Game appearances. The regular third baseman for the Yankees, Rolfe appeared in 135 games, batting .319 with 10 home runs, 70 RBIs, and a league-leading 15 triples. Manager Joe McCarthy (#143) had Rolfe bat second most of the year, setting the table for the power hitters in the middle of the order, including Joe DiMaggio (#126), Lou Gehrig (#130) and Bill Dickey (#11). In his first World Series action, Rolfe batted .400 (10 for 25) against the Giants, as the Yankees won in six games.