#144 Bill McKechnie MG - Boston Bees

William Boyd McKechnie

Boston Bees

Manager

Bats:  Both  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  160

Born:  August 7, 1886, Wilkinsburg, PA

Major League Teams:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1907, 1910-12; Boston Braves 1913; New York Yankees 1913; Indianapolis Hoosiers 1914; Newark Pepper 1915; New York Giants 1916; Cincinnati Reds 1916-17; Pittsburgh Pirates 1918, 1920

As a Manager:  Newark Pepper 1915; Pittsburgh Pirates 1922-26; St. Louis Cardinals 1928, 1929; Boston Braves 1930-35; Boston Bees 1936-37; Cincinnati Reds 1938-46

Died:  October 29, 1965, Bradenton, FL (79)

Hall of Fame Induction:  1962

Bill McKechnie had a respectable career as a major league player, playing in 11 seasons overall and enjoying his best season in 1914 as the starting third baseman for the the Frontier League's Indianapolis Hoosiers.  He batted .304 that season with 47 stolen bases.  McKechnie would begin his lengthy and successful managerial career the following year as the player/manager for the Newark Pepper, and he'd get his first National League job with the Pirates in 1922.  McKechnie guided the Pirates to a National League pennant in 1925, with his club defeating the Washington Nationals in seven games in the World Series.  After an acrimonious end to his time with the Pirates, McKechnnie briefly managed the Cardinals, leading that team to a World Series in 1928.  They were swept by the powerhouse Yankees.

McKechnie would spend eight years at the helm for the Braves/Bees, never finishing higher than fourth place in the league.  He'd join the Reds in 1938, with Cincinnati winning back-to-back pennants in 1939 and 1940, and winning the World Series in 1940 with a seventh game win over the Tigers.  Focusing on strong pitching and defense throughout his career, McKechnie became the first manager to win a World Series title with two different teams.  He retired as a manager following the 1946 season with 1,892 career managerial wins, ranking fourth in major league history at the time.  McKechnie would coach for the Indians (1947-48) and Red Sox (1952-53), winning another World Series ring with the Indians in 1948.  He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962.

Header cards included with the complete set

Building the Set

December 16, 2020 from Albion, NY

Within days of officially deciding to collect the Diamond Stars set, I found myself searching for the 1993 extension set consisting of 36 more "what if" cards this time issued by the Chicle Fantasy Company.  Individual cards from this set are very prevalent on eBay, but I wanted to buy a complete set to save myself some time and money.  Given this is a relatively modern set, I was somewhat surprised at the closing auction prices for previously sold complete sets and I was happy to win my set at a lower price.  These cards are gorgeous, and I can tell a lot of hard work and love for the originals went into making this tribute set.  What's more, the set's creators were smart enough to start the numbering with card #121, given the 1981 extension set had left off with #120.

Variations Available

1 - 1993 / blue back / 1935 statistics / 1993 copyright

The Card / Bees Team Set

The back of the card mentions the low point of McKechnie's Hall of Fame career - the 115 loss season with the Braves in 1935.  It also foreshadows his success yet to come with the Reds in a few years.

1936 Season

In a huge improvement over the disastrous 1935 season, the newly-named Bees finished the season with a 71-83 record, in sixth place in the National League, 21 games behind the pennant-winning Giants.  From McKechnie's SABR biography, written by Warren Corbett: 

[Boston owner] Judge Fuchs had run out of money, credit, and hope.  Before the 1936 season the National League took over the franchise and engineered a recapitalization with the longtime baseball executive Bob Quinn as principal owner.  The 65-year-old Quinn had a knack for picking lost causes.  He had owned the Red Sox after Harry Frazee plundered the team and then served as president of the debt-ridden Brooklyn Dodgers.  Quinn changed the team nickname to Bees but kept the manager.  McKechnie started rebuilding again.  He acquired a few useful players, including Al Lopez (#97) and Tony Cuccinello (#55), possibly as an act of charity by the rest of the league, and improved the club’s record by 33 wins in 1936, good enough for sixth place.

1912 American Tobacco (T207)

1940 Play Ball #153

1980-87 SSPC HOF #88

1994 Conlon Collection TSN #1066

2004 Topps Fall Classic Covers #FC1928

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1912 American Tobacco Company Brown Background (T207)

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2004 Topps Fall Classic Covers #FC1928

47 - McKechnie non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/22/26.

Sources:

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

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #143 Joe McCarthy MG - New York Yankees

Next Card: #145 Johnny Mike - St. Louis Cardinals

#99 "Pie" Traynor MG - Pittsburgh Pirates

Harold Joseph Traynor
Pittsburgh Pirates
Third Base-Manager

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  170
Born:  November 11, 1898, Framingham, MA
Major League Teams:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1920-35, 1937

World Series Appearances:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1925, 1927

As a Manager:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1934-39

Died:  March 16, 1972, Pittsburgh, PA (73)

Hall of Fame Induction:  1948

The greatest third baseman of his era, Pie Traynor played his entire 17-year big league career with the Pirates.  He helped the club win a World Series title in 1925, batting .346 (9 for 26) in the seven-game series against the Senators.  Traynor batted over .300 in ten different seasons, attaining a career high in hits with 208 in 1923 and hitting a career-high .366 in 1930.  His lifetime batting average was .320.  He drove in over 100 runs in seven seasons, a record for third baseman until surpassed by Mike Schmidt.  Traynor led the league in triples with 19 in 1923, and he's currently 30th on the all-time triples list with 164.  He had 371 career doubles and astonishingly only struck out 278 times over 1,941 games and 8,298 plate appearances.  An adept bunter, Traynor twice led the league in sacrifices.  He was named to the first two All-Star Games in 1933 and 1934, and was the National League's starting third baseman in the 1934 contest.  Exceptional defensively, Traynor's 2,289 career putouts at third base are fifth all-time.

He was named the Pirates' player-manager during the 1934 season, and he held that position through the 1939 season.  Pittsburgh nearly went back to the World Series in 1938, but they fell to the Cubs following the Gabby Hartnett (#134) home run in the infamous Homer in the Gloamin' game at Wrigley Field on September 28, 1938.  Traynor had a lifetime managerial record of 457-406.  Traynor later served as long-time and popular radio host in Pittsburgh between 1944 and 1965.  He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1948, the first third baseman to be voted in by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.  Traynor threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 3 of the 1971 World Series and passed away a few months later.  His #20 was posthumously retired by the Pirates before their home opener in 1972.

Building the Set

March 14, 2025 from Lincoln, MA (Champion Sportcards & Collectibles) - Card #115

My luck continued recently on eBay when I won this late series Traynor card for a final bid price that was less than half what the card's current book price is, according to Beckett.  The card showed up in one of my saved searches, I placed what I thought was a "no way this is going to win" bid, and was pleasantly surprised when no one else entered the auction after my bid.

Unbelievably, I'm down to needing just four cards for my version of a master set . . . or maybe it's just three.  I had wanted both the error and corrected versions of the Hank Greenberg (#54) card, but as I near the end of this collecting journey, maybe just one of those versions is fine.  I'd of course feel differently if the card wasn't the most expensive in the set.  I'm also still on the hunt for the cards of Mel Ott (#50) and the last high-number needed, Stan Hack (#107).

Variations Available

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

This is the second Traynor card in the set, with the Hall of Fame third baseman first appearing on card #27.  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 #99 is blue, similar to all cards from the third series.

The Card / Pirates Team Set

The tip on the back of the card provides guidance on where to stand in the batter's box, depending on your arm length and swinging style.  It also implores the reader to study Traynor's form, given the current Pirates manager's success over the years while batting.

Comparing both the easier to find early series Traynor card to this harder to find late series Traynor card, the latter is actually the nicer of the two in my set.

1936 Season

This was the first season Traynor was a full-time manager, not playing in any games, although his SABR biography notes he kept himself on the Pirates' active roster.  His team finished in fourth place in the National League with a 84-70-2 record.  Shortstop Arky Vaughan (#151) was the team's MVP, leading the league with a .453 on-base percentage, 118 walks and 122 runs scored.  Vaughan batted .335.  First baseman  Gus Suhr (#56) led the team with 11 home runs and 118 RBIs.  Cy Blanton (#57) won 13 games and threw a league-leading four shutouts.

1922 American Caramel Series of 240 (E120)

1933 DeLong Gum (R333)

1933 Goudey #22

1940 Play Ball #224

1976 Topps #343

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1922 American Caramel Series of 240 (E120)

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1):  1976

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Panini Diamond Kings #108

181 - Traynor non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/15/25.

Sources:

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

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #98 "Schoolboy" Rowe - Detroit Tigers

Next Card: #100 Earle Averill - Cleveland Indians

#108 Wally Berger - Boston Bees

Walter Anton Berger

Boston Bees

Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  198

Born:  October 10, 1905, Chicago, IL

Major League Teams:  Boston Braves 1931-35; Boston Bees 1936-37; New York Giants 1937-38; Cincinnati Reds 1938-40; Philadelphia Phillies 1940

World Series Appearances:  New York Giants 1937; Cincinnati Reds 1939

Died:  November 30, 1988, Redondo Beach, CA (83)

Wally Berger enjoyed a solid multi-year run in the early 1930s in which he was the top player for the Boston Braves/Bees franchise, earning MVP votes in each season between 1932 and 1936.  Berger hit 38 home runs in his rookie season of 1930, a record for rookies that stood until 1987 when broken by Mark McGwire, and he drove in 119 RBIs, a National League rookie record that was in place until surpassed by Albert Pujols in 2001.  Berger was a four-time All-Star and the National League's starting center fielder in the inaugural All-Star Game in 1933.  Of the 18 players who started the 1934 All-Star Game, Berger is the only one not currently in the Hall of Fame.  He never topped the 38 home runs he hit in 1930, but he led the league in 1935 with 34 home runs and a career-high 130 RBIs.  Shoulder and hand injuries suffered during the 1936 season hurt his power numbers in subsequent years, and Berger would retire following a final season in the minors in 1941, playing for the Cubs' top affiliate, the Los Angeles Angels.

Upon his retirement, Berger owned a career .300 average with 242 home runs and 898 RBIs, with his home run tally 12th on the all-time list following the 1940 season.  He briefly scouted with the Giants and Yankees in the late 1940s before leaving baseball for good.

Building the Set

September 21, 2024 from Nashville, TN (Burl's Sports) - Card #109

Seller Burl's Sports had this card listed on eBay recently, and I don't think it had been listed over the summer the last time I searched for the 11 cards I still need for my version of a Diamond Stars master set.  I made an offer on the card, which was quickly accepted by the seller.  Even though the card was slabbed, it still had to go through the eBay authentication process, which seems a bit redundant.  After eBay confirmed that yes, this is a real baseball card, it eventually made its way to me.

With the arrival of this Berger card, I'm down to 10 cards to go.  I've recently started at least thinking through the idea of foregoing the final 10 cards and having them represented in my set by reprints.  These are all fairly pricey cards I need and I could see myself adding one or maybe two a year for the foreseeable future, or just simply satisfying myself with reprints and moving on to my next set collecting quest.  A family friend of mine recently went this route with his 1959 Topps set, opting for reprints of the Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays cards as he couldn't justify those cards' price tags.  He had fun collecting 570 out of the 572 cards in that set and then decided he was close enough.  I initially hated that idea conceptually, but 10 cards away from a complete Diamond Stars set, I kind of get it now.

Variations Available

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

The Card / Bees Team Set

This is the second Berger card in the set, with the outfielder first appearing on card #25.  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.  Berger's card needed some extra attention, removing the Braves word mark from the front of his jersey since Boston switched to the Bees nickname for their 1936 season.  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 #108 is blue, similar to all cards from the third series.

The back of the card gives a few tips to aspiring batters on how best to stride toward a pitch and what do with your arms while swinging.

1936 Season

Berger was named to his fourth consecutive All-Star team in 1936, although his production for the Bees declined a little from his monster year in 1935.  Berger appeared in 138 games, batting .288 with 25 home runs and 91 RBIs.  A shoulder and hand injury cut into his playing time, with Berger making 133 starts in center field for the Bees.

Phillies Career

On May 10, 1940, the Reds released Berger and the now veteran outfielder signed with the Phillies five days later on May 15th.  Berger had held out for a higher salary with the Reds in the spring, after hitting 14 home runs for the team during their pennant-winning 1939 season.  

The Reds ultimately relented, but Berger received minimal playing time and his release came as a surprise.  Berger appeared in 20 games for the Phillies, hitting a respectable .317 (13 for 41), including his final career home run on June 5th against Cubs pitcher Larry French.  Not receiving any playing time, Berger requested his release from the club, which was granted on July 5th.

1933 Goudey #98

1933 Tattoo Orbit (R305)

1936 Goudey

1939 Play Ball #99

1940 Play Ball #81

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1933 Goudey #98

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Conlon Collection TSN #1098

90 - Berger non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/30/24.

Sources:

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #107 Stanley Hack - Chicago Cubs

Next Card: #2 Al Simmons - Detroit Tigers (Variation)

#74 Tony Lazzeri - New York Yankees

Anthony Michael Lazzeri

New York Yankees

Second Base

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

Born:  December 6, 1903, San Francisco, CA

Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1926-1937; Chicago Cubs 1938; Brooklyn Dodgers 1939; New York Giants 1939

World Series Appearances:  New York Yankees 1926-1928, 1932, 1936-1937; Chicago Cubs 1938

Died:  August 6, 1946, San Francisco, CA (42)

Hall of Fame Induction:  1991

A member of the Yankees' "Murderer's Row," and a slugging, good-fielding second baseman, Tony Lazzeri spent 14 seasons in the majors, winning five World Series rings between 1927 and 1937.  Lazzeri secured the everyday second baseman's job with the Yankees in 1926, holding that position for a dozen years.  In 1927, he batted .309 with 102 RBIs, finishing third in the league with 18 home runs, behind his teammates Babe Ruth (#109) and Lou Gehrig (#130).  He batted a career-best .354 in 1929, while tying his career high with 18 home runs.  Lazzeri would hit exactly 18 home runs in four different seasons, and he'd eclipse the 100 RBI plateau in seven seasons.  He set an American League record with 11 RBIs on May 24, 1936, becoming the first player to hit two grand slams in one game.

Lazzeri finished up his major league career with brief stints with the Cubs, Dodgers and Giants.  He collected 1,840 hits, batting .292 with 178 home runs and 1,194 RBIs.  Between 1940 and 1943, he was a player-manager in the minor leagues.  Lazzeri was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1991, and despite being overshadowed by his superstar teammates, he's considered one of the best second basemen of his era.

Building the Set

April 25, 2024 from Bayville, NY (Johnny Hustle Card Co.) - Card #107

I added this card to my eBay watch list in April, and shortly thereafter received a $50 off offer from the seller, jhustle1.  I'm now 12 cards away from my version of a Diamond Stars master set.  The elusive cards needed include five pricey Hall of Famers and seven cards from the hard-to-find (and also pricey) third series.  I still have 16 cards to feature from the 1993 and 2014 extended sets, but this blog could go dormant from time to time as I continue the search for the last 12 cards.

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 Lazzeri card for my set is the second of the three variations available.

The Card / Yankees Team Set

I'd consider this one of the more iconic cards in the set, as I've long seen this card as a representation of key baseball cards from the 1930s.  The colors, the art deco geometry and the two waving flags behind Lazzeri are a nice touch by National Chicle.  The back of the card credits Lazzeri for being "one of the best taggers in the game," and explains the proper way to prepare for a catcher's throw to catch a would-be base stealer.

To date, and with his induction in 1991, Lazzeri is the 37th and final player in the set to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

1935 Season

Lazzeri played in 130 games for the Yankees, batting .273 with 13 home runs and 83 RBIs.  His RBI tally was third on the team behind Gehrig, who had 120, and George Selkirk (#88), who had 94.  The Yankees finished in second place in the American League, three games behind the pennant-winning Tigers.

1926 Exhibits (W461)

1928 W513 #79

1933 Goudey #31

1934-36 Batter-Up (R318) #45

1940 Play Ball #238

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1926 Exhibits (W461)

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Panini Absolute - Retail #8

367 - Lazzeri non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/12/24.

Sources:

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

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #73 "Fritz" Ostermueller - Boston Red Sox

Next Card: #75 Irving Burns - St. Louis Browns

#125 Paul Dean - St. Louis Cardinals

Paul Dee Dean

St. Louis Cardinals

Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  175
Born:  August 14, 1912, Lucas, AR
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1934-1939; New York Giants 1940-1941; St. Louis Browns 1943

World Series Appearances:  St. Louis Cardinals 1934

Died:  March 17, 1981, Springdale, AR (68)

The younger brother of Hall of Fame pitcher Dizzy Dean (#124), Paul Dean was given the nickname Daffy by the press, despite his relatively quiet demeanor.  Dean was one of the best pitchers in the league his rookie and sophomore seasons, winning 19 games each year.  Dean was 19-11 in 1934 with a 3.43 ERA and 16 complete games.  In the second game of a double header on September 21, 1934 against the Dodgers, Dean pitched a no-hitter after Dizzy had thrown a three-hit shutout in the first game.  The Dean brothers led the Cardinals to the World Series and an eventual Championship, recording all four wins needed to defeat the Tigers in seven games.  He topped that output in 1935, going 19-12 with a 3.37 ERA and 19 complete games in a career high 269 2/3 innings pitched.  The Dean brothers capitalized on their popularity with a traveling vaudeville act and even a Dizzy and Daffy short film with future Three Stooges member Shemp Howard.

Feeling the wear and tear of a non-stop schedule, Dean's arm was constantly ailing, and following his stellar 1935 season he'd never throw more than a 100 innings in a season.  Dean hung on through 1943, having a brief resurgence with the Giants in 1940 when he pitched in 27 games and was 4-4.  For his career, Dean was 50-34 with a 3.75 ERA in 159 games pitched.

Building the Set

December 16, 2020 from Albion, NY

Within days of officially deciding to collect the Diamond Stars set, I found myself searching for the 1993 extension set consisting of 36 more "what if" cards this time issued by the Chicle Fantasy Company.  Individual cards from this set are very prevalent on eBay, but I wanted to buy a complete set to save myself some time and money.  Given this is a relatively modern set, I was somewhat surprised at the closing auction prices for previously sold complete sets and I was happy to win my set at a lower price.  These cards are gorgeous, and I can tell a lot of hard work and love for the originals went into making this tribute set.  What's more, the set's creators were smart enough to start the numbering with card #121, given the 1981 extension set had left off with #120.

Variations Available

1 - 1993 / blue back / 1935 statistics / 1993 copyright

The Card / Cardinals Team Set

The back of the card alludes to Dean's troubles following the 1935 season.  Likely exhausted from his barmstorming tours with his brother, not receiving proper care for what was a serious arm injury, and reporting to spring training heavier than usual in 1936, all contributed to the gradual end of his baseball dominance.

1936 Season

This was the beginning of the end for Dean.  His shoulder injury now diagnosed as a pulled tendon, Dean was essentially shut down for the season by mid-June, making only three appearances in July and August.  He was 5-5 for the season with a 4.60 ERA in 17 games pitched, throwing five complete games.  Only 23 years old at the start of the season, Dean requested voluntary retirement on August 25th, returning to his farm in Texas to rest.

1934-36 Batter-Up (R313) #143

1939 Play Ball #19

1940 Play Ball #156

1961 Nu-Cards Baseball Scoops #476

1992 Conlon Collection TSN #631

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1934-36 Batter-Up (R318) #143

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Conlon Collection TSN #1170

42 - Dean non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/7/24.

Sources:

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #124 "Dizzy" Dean - St. Louis Cardinals

Next Card:  #126 "Joe" DiMaggio - New York Yankees

#150 "Casey" Stengel MG - Brooklyn Dodgers

Charles Dillon Stengel

Brooklyn Dodgers

Manager

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  175
Born:  July 30, 1890, Kansas City, MO

Major League Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1912-1917; Pittsburgh Pirates 1918-1919; Philadelphia Phillies 1920-1921; New York Giants 1921-1923; Boston Braves 1924-1925

World Series Appearances:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1916; New York Giants 1922-1923; New York Yankees 1949-1953, 1955-1958, 1960

As a Manager:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1934-1936; Boston Bees 1938-1942; Boston Braves 1943; New York Yankees 1949-1960; New York Mets 1962-1965

Died:  September 29, 1975, Glendale, CA (age 85)
Hall of Fame Induction:  1966

Before he became "The Old Perfessor" with a Hall of Fame managing career, Casey Stengel was an outfielder for 14 big league seasons primarily with the Dodgers and Giants.  In 1,277 career games he hit .284 with 60 home runs and 535 RBIs.  His best seasons came in 1914 with the Dodgers when he led the league with a .404 on-base percentage and finished fifth in batting average at .316, and in 1922 with the Giants.  He only appeared in 84 games that year but hit .368 with 48 RBIs.  He won a World Series ring with the Giants in 1922, hitting .400 in that year's World Series against the Yankees.

Following his playing days, Stengel had managing stints with the Dodgers and Bees/Braves but he'd find his greatest success leading the Yankees through one of the most successful stretches in franchise and baseball history.  Stengel's Yankees' teams won World Series titles every year between 1949 and 1953, and then again in 1956 and 1958.  The only years his Yankees teams didn't make the World Series were 1954 when the club still won 103 games and 1959.  He had a .623 winning percentage with the Yankees, winning 1,149 games to just 696 losses.

Stengel and the Yankees parted ways following the 1960 season, and at the age of 71 he was named the first manager for the expansion New York Mets for the start of their inaugural season in 1962.  In the three full seasons Stengel managed the Mets, the team finished each year with at least 100 losses.  He compiled a record of 174-404 with the Mets and retired part way through the 1965 seasons after falling and breaking his hip.

The Mets retired Stengel's #37 on September 2, 1965 and the following year the Hall of Fame waived its five-year waiting period to induct him that summer.  He threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 3 of the 1969 World Series between the Mets and Orioles, and the Mets gave him a World Series ring following their series win.  The Yankees retired his #37 in 1970.  He's the only person to have worn the uniform as a player or manager for all four major league teams to have called New York home in the 20th century - Dodgers, Giants, Yankees and Mets.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set

December 16, 2020 from Albion, NY

Within days of officially deciding to collect the Diamond Stars set, I found myself searching for the 1993 extension set consisting of 36 more "what if" cards this time issued by the Chicle Fantasy Company.  Individual cards from this set are very prevalent on eBay, but I wanted to buy a complete set to save myself some time and money.  Given this is a relatively modern set, I was somewhat surprised at the closing auction prices for previously sold complete sets and I was happy to win my set at a lower price.  These cards are gorgeous, and I can tell a lot of hard work and love for the originals went into making this tribute set.  What's more, the set's creators were smart enough to start the numbering with card #121, given the 1981 extension set had left off with #120.

Variations Available

1 - 1993 / blue back / 1935 statistics / 1993 copyright

The Card / Dodgers Team Set

The back of the card summarizes a few highlights from Stengel's playing days and notes he's in his third year as the Dodgers manager.  The young players mentioned as Stengel's young sparks are outfielder Frenchy Bordagray, catcher Babe Phelps and first baseman Buddy Hassett.

1936 Season

This was to be Stengel's third and final season as manager of the Dodgers, and his team would finish in seventh place with a 67-87-2 record.  Only the 100-loss Phillies team kept them out of the National League basement.  The Dodgers received decent pitching from Van Mungo (#19), Ed Brandt and Fred Frankhouse (#62), but not much in the way of offense.  First baseman Hassett led the team with 82 RBIs, and catcher Phelps topped all Dodgers' batters with five home runs.

Phillies Career
The Phillies acquired Stengel from the Pirates on August 9, 1919 for Possum Whitted, after Stengel had had a salary dispute with the Pirates' owner.  Upon arriving in Philadelphia, he repeated his salary demands and when the Phillies didn't agree, Stengel went home to Kansas City and played for barnstorming clubs.  He came back to Philadelphia for the 1920 season and had a fairly successful year as the team's regular right fielder.  In 129 games, Stengel hit .292 with a career-high 9 home runs and 50 RBIs.

Injuries slowed him down in 1921 and he'd appear in only 24 games with the Phillies before being traded to the Giants on July 1st with Johnny Rawlings for Lee King, Goldie Rapp and Billy Southworth.  In 153 total games for the Phillies, Stengel hit .294.  He'd later manage the 1950 Yankees team that would sweep the Whiz Kid Phillies in the World Series.

1910 Old Mill Cigarettes T210

1916 Sporting News M101-4 #169

1940 Play Ball #141

1950 Bowman #217

1959 Topps #552

1965 Topps #187

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1910 T210 Old Mill
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7):  1958-1960; 1962-1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Topps 206 (Wave 3)

449 - Stengel non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/7/24.

Sources:

1965 Topps Blog

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

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #149 Al Smith - New York Giants

Next Card: #151 Floyd Vaughan - Pittsburgh Pirates