#145 Johnny Mize - St. Louis Cardinals

John Robert Mize

St. Louis Cardinals

First Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  215
Born:  January 7, 1913, Demorest, GA
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1936-41; New York Giants 1942, 1946-49; New York Yankees 1949-53

World Series Appearances:  New York Yankees 1949-53

Died:  June 2, 1993, Demorest, GA (80)

Hall of Fame Induction:  1981

Nicknamed "The Big Cat" and "Big Jawn," slugging Johnny Mize found success with the Cardinals, Giants and Yankees over a 15-year career interrupted for three full seasons while he served during World War II.  He earned the first of ten All-Star game nods in 1937, his first superstar season in which he batted a career-best .364.  Mize's two-year tear in 1939 and 1940 saw him lead the league in home runs both seasons, and in 1940 he clubbed 43 home runs.  Mize also collected 137 RBIs in 1940, the first of three seasons in which he'd top the league in that category.  He'd finish as MVP runner-up to Bucky Walters in 1939 and Frank McCormick in 1940.  Dealt to the Giants in December 1941, Mize would put up his typical superstar numbers in 1942 before missing all of 1943, 1944 and 1945 during the war.

He'd have a career year in 1947 with the Giants, leading the league in runs scored (137), home runs (51) and RBIs (138) - all three career high water marks.  Decreased playing time in 1949 resulted in Mize requesting a trade, and he was shipped to the Yankees on August 22nd for $40,000.  While with the Yankees, Mize served as a back-up first baseman and successful pinch-hitter.  He'd win five straight World Series rings with the Yankees between 1949 and 1953, batting .286 (12 for 42) in the postseason with three home runs.  In retirement, Mize worked as a broadcaster and hitting coach for the Giants (1955-60) and Athletics (1961).  

In 1,884 career major league games, Mize batted .312 with 2,011 hits, 359 home runs and 1,337 RBIs.  His .562 slugging percentage is currently 19th all-time.  Mize was selected for induction into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1981.

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.

As I slowly collect the originals from the 1930s, I'll also highlight each of the cards from these extension sets with their own posts.  The complete set came with a small disclaimer card, indicating Dean and five other former players appear under license authorized by Curtis Management Group.

Variations Available

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

The Card / Cardinals Team Set

It's a shame the original Diamond Stars set didn't include Mize's rookie card, but the creators of this extension set right that wrong.  The back of the card recounts Mize's ascent during his rookie season, and there's a bit more about his leg problems in the summary below.

1936 Season

Mize had ended the 1935 season on the voluntarily retired list, at the age of 22, due to the pain caused by spurs on his pelvic bone.  From his SABR biography, written by Jerry Grillo: 

[Cardinals' club surgeon Dr. Robert] Hyland performed a daring bit of surgery that winter, and by the time spring training began, Mize had made an amazing recovery.  He made the Cardinals’ big-league roster and by midsummer had moved [Ripper] Collins (#116) off first base.  Mize’s rookie campaign was nothing short of brilliant - in 126 games he batted .329, with 19 homers and 93 RBIs.  Moreover, he was on pace to lead National League first basemen in fielding percentage had he played in enough games to qualify.  Mize actually led his league in percentage, assists, and putouts twice each.  Then again, he also led in errors twice and finished second in that dubious category three other times.  "He was a big, lumbering guy, and some groundballs got by him, sure, but if he could reach it, if he ever got his hand on the ball, he held it," [Cardinals' teammate] Don Gutteridge said.

1936 National Chicle Pastels (R312)

1941 Double Play #99-100

1949 Bowman #85

1951 Bowman #50

1953 Topps #77

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1936 National Chicle Pastels (R312)

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3):  1951-53

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2025 Topps Allen & Ginter #344

800 - Mize non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/1/26.

Sources:

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

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #144 Bill McKechnie MG - Boston Bees

Next Card: #146 Johnny Moore - Philadelphia Phillies

#112 Joe DiMaggio - New York Yankees

Joseph Paul DiMaggio

New York Yankees

Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  193

Born:  November 25, 1914, Martinez, CA

Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1936-42, 1946-51

World Series Appearances:  New York Yankees 1936-39, 1941-42, 1947, 1949-51

Died:  March 8, 1999, Hollywood, FL (84)

Hall of Fame Induction:  1955

Joltin' Joe DiMaggio, the Yankee Clipper, reached almost mythic status during his 13 years with the Yankees.  Beloved by the Bronx fans and famous worldwide, DiMaggio made his debut on May 3, 1936, and was a bona fide superstar from his time as a rookie to his retirement in 1951.  He was an American League All-Star each year he played and helped guide the Yankees to 10 pennants and nine World Championships.  He batted .346 in his sophomore season of 1937, attaining career best marks for home runs (46) and RBIs (167).  DiMaggio won MVP honors in 1939, 1941 and 1947, the latter award made even more impressive due to the fact he had missed three full seasons while serving in the military during World War II.  His best season was perhaps 1941 when he accumulated a 56-game hitting streak, finishing the year with a .357 average, 30 home runs and 125 RBIs.

DiMaggio retired following the 1951 season, ranking fifth all-time in career home runs (361) and sixth all-time in slugging percentage (.579).  In 1,736 regular season games, DiMaggio batted .325 with 2,214 hits, including 389 doubles and 131 triples.  His #5 was retired by the Yankees in 1952, and DiMaggio was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1955.  He remained in the spotlight following his retirement from baseball, marrying Marilyn Monroe in 1954 and forever immortalized in Simon & Garfunkel's 1968 song, "Mrs. Robinson."  DiMaggio continues to be regarded as one of the best baseball players of all time.

Building the Set

December 22, 2020 from McKeesport, PA (Steel City Collectibles)

In 2014, the third and final "extended" set of Diamond Stars cards was released, repeating three of the players available in the 1993 extended set, including DiMaggio, and adding a pair of cards for Babe Ruth (#109b and #110b).  According to this article, the five cards were made available at the 2014 National Sports Collectors Convention (NSCC) held in Cleveland between July 30 and August 3, 2014.  The cards were originally slabbed by PSA, numbered to 500, and given away to collectors when they signed up for a Gold or Platinum level PSA Collectors Club membership.

Steel City Collectibles was selling a lot of four of these five-card sets on eBay for the reasonable price of $17.95 before Christmas, and I eagerly added these cards to my collection.  One set now lives in my Diamond Stars set binder and another set made its way into my oldest son's Doug's collection.  That leaves me with two extra sets looking for a good home or homes.

I wish PSA and the sponsor of these sets, Historic Autograph Company, had paid attention to the extended sets issued earlier.  Instead of repeating card numbers 109 to 113, they could have started with card number 154, picking up where the 1993 extended set had left off.

Variations Available

1 - 2014 / green back / 1935 statistics / 2014 copyright

The Card / Yankees Team Set

I'm partial to the first "what if" version of this Diamond Stars card, from the Chicle Fantasy Extended Edition set, issued in 1993 (#126).  The write-up on the back of this card highlights DiMaggio's fast rise to fame via the Pacific Coast League.  The four players the Yankees gave up for DiMaggio were Doc Farrell, Floyd Newkirk, Jimmy Densmore and Ted Norbert.  Farrell refused to report to the Seals, with the Yankees adding in $5,000 to complete the deal.

1936 Season

DiMaggio entered spring training as the heir apparent to Babe Ruth (#109), who had departed the Yankees two years prior.  Roy Johnson was the team's opening day left fielder, but DiMaggio made his debut and first start on May 3rd in left, moving to center field in late July.  He'd hit .323 his rookie season, with 29 home runs and 125 RBIs.  DiMaggio was one of five players in the powerful Yankee line-up with at least 100 RBIs, with Lou Gehrig's (#130) 152 leading them all.  The Yankees defeated the Giants in the World Series, with DiMaggio playing every inning in center field for all six games.  He batted .346 (9 for 26) in his first postseason play.

1938 Goudey Heads-Up #250

1939 Play Ball #26

1941 Play Ball #71

1948-49 Leaf #1

1980-87 SSPC HOF #75

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1938 Goudey Heads-Up (R323) #250

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2025 Topps Living #832

2,103 - DiMaggio non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/31/26.

Sources:

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

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #111 Lou Gehrig - New York Yankees

Next Card: #113 Bob Feller - Cleveland Indians

#50 "Mel" Ott - New York Giants

Melvin Thomas Ott

New York Giants

Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'9"  Weight:  170

Born:  March 2, 1909, Gretna, LA

Major League Teams:  New York Giants 1926-47

World Series Appearances:  New York Giants 1933, 1936-37

As a Manager:  New York Giants 1942-48

Died:  November 21, 1958, New Orleans, LA (49)

Hall of Fame Induction:  1951

Short in stature, Mel Ott was nevertheless one of the premier power hitters of his era, playing in parts of 22 seasons with the Giants and leading the league in home run six times.  He never played a minor league game, going directly from high school to the majors, and making his debut just a few months following his 17th birthday.  Ott was a force at the plate, capable of the long ball but also hitting for average.  He hit over 30 home runs in eight seasons, including a career-high 42 home runs in 1929.  He led the league in both home runs (35) and RBIs (135) in 1934, the first of 11 consecutive seasons he'd go to the All-Star Game.  A lifelong Giant, Ott helped his team to three National League pennants and a World Series title in 1933.  He was also an above average fielder and displayed some speed on the base paths, making him truly an exceptional five-tool player at the peak of his career.  He spent the last six seasons of his playing days also serving as the Giants' manager, guiding his team to a 464-530 record.

Ott was the first National League player to collect 500 home runs, and his 511 career blasts are currently 25th all-time.  Most of his career marks are still among the best all-time in baseball - 1,859 runs (15th), 2,876 hits (45th), 1,860 RBIs (14th), 1,708 walks (9th), 256 assists as an outfielder (21st).  His #4 was retired by the Giants in 1949, and he was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1951.

January 11, 2026 - Citizens Bank Park lit up green
for the Eagles' playoff game

Building the Set

January 20, 2026 from Dan Barrett Sportscards - Card #116

My wife and I have reached the point where we mutually agree not to get each other anything crazy for Christmas, as (a) we really don't need anything and (b) if there was something one of us needed, we'd likely want to go and pick it out on our own.  She's left it up to me over the past several years to find "one big card" for her and our sons to present to me on Christmas morning, and I feign surprise each year, even though I'm the one who plotted the card's purchase for weeks or months in advance.  This past Christmas snuck up on me.  I don't know if it was stress at work or the ongoing transition of having our oldest son away at college for his first semester, but I completely whiffed on finding the "one big card" in time for Santa to leave it for me under the tree.

I hadn't planned on buying this Ott card, but I received an offer of a deep discount from eBay seller, Dan Barrett Sportscards, and after a quick confirmation that Santa still owed me "one big card," I clicked buy at some point in early January.  It's only the third card I've added to my Diamond Stars set build since the beginning of 2025, and with the addition of this card, I'm down to needing just three, but likely only two more cards for my version of a set.

I say likely only two, as I had every intention of adding both the error and corrected version of the Hank Greenberg (#54) card to my set, but either version of the card is crazy expensive, and I'm slowly talking myself out of needing both.  With the addition of a Greenberg card, preferrably the corrected version, and the high series Stanley Hack (#107) card, my set quest will be complete.

Actually . . . one more thing left on my to-do list is to track down reprints of the cards in my set currently slabbed.  Right now there are holes in my nine-pocket pages where the graded cards should go, and I've decided to use reprints of those cards as placeholders so there are no gaps whenever I'm flipping pages and admiring the set.

Variations Available

1 - 1935 / green back / 1934 statistics / 1935 copyright

The Card / Giants Team Set

What a fantastic card, and a card I've seen countless times under glass display cases in my 40 years of collecting baseball cards.  This is the only card in the set featuring a player without his hat, and I wonder what made Ott decide to pose without his hat on?  Having now seen all the cards in the set, I'd say this card and the Jimmie Foxx (#64) card are by far my two favorite cards in the set, in all their 1930s art deco glory.

The back of the card features a baseball tip that still applies to today's hitters.  It's not about killing the ball, or swinging the bat as hard as you can.  Rather, it's about making contact with the ball at the sweet spot or the "sweet part" of the bat, and spending hours practicing a hitter's craft.  Ott was a master at this, resulting in a Hall of Fame career.

1935 Season

In 152 games with the Giants, Ott batted .322 with 31 home runs and 114 RBIs.  Once again the MVP of the Giants, he and first baseman Bill Terry (#14) helped lead the club to a third place finish in the National League.

1929 Kashin Publications (R316)

1933 Goudey #127

1934-36 Batter-Up (R318) #27

1939 Play Ball #51

1941 Play Ball #8

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1929 Kashin Publications (R316)

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2025 Topps Tribute #78

865 - Ott non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/24/26.

Sources:

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

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #49 "Buck" Jordan - Boston Braves

Next Card: #51 John Whitehead - Chicago White Sox

#136 Billy Herman - Chicago Cubs

William Jennings Bryan Herman

Chicago Cubs

Second Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  180

Born:  July 7, 1909, New Albany, IN

Major League Teams:  Chicago Cubs 1931-41; Brooklyn Dodgers 1941-43, 1946; Boston Braves 1946; Pittsburgh Pirates 1947

World Series Appearances:  Chicago Cubs 1932, 1935, 1938; Brooklyn Dodgers 1941

As a Manager:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1947; Boston Red Sox 1964-66

Died:  September 5, 1992, West Palm Beach, FL (83)

Hall of Fame Induction:  1975

Named for the three-time Presidential candidate and long-time politician, Billy Herman was an All-Star second baseman for the Cubs throughout the 1930s and into the early 1940s.  He earned a spot on the All-Star Game roster ten times, including his career year of 1935 when he led the league with 227 hits and 57 doubles.  Herman helped his teams win four pennants (1932, 1935 and 1938 with the Cubs and 1941 with the Dodgers) but he was never a World Series winner as a player.  He missed all of the 1944 and 1945 seasons while serving during World War II and he'd play his final years with the Dodgers, Braves and Pirates.  Herman's managerial career began in 1947 as the player-manager for the Pirates, but his team struggled to a 61-92-2 record and seventh place in the National League.  A consistent and steady fielder, Herman led all second baseman in fielding percentage three times and finished in the top ten for the mark 12 times.  Over 1,922 games he collected 2,345 hits while batting .304.

Herman was a long-time coach, spending time with the Dodgers (1952-57), Braves (1958-59) and Red Sox (1960-64) before being named the Red Sox manager at the end of the 1964 season, replacing the departing Johnny Pesky.  Herman's Red Sox lost 100 games in 1965 and they'd lose another 82 in 1966 under his watch until he was replaced by Pete Runnels for the final weeks of the season.  Herman would return to the coaching ranks with the Angels (1967) and Padres (1978-79).  He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975 by the Veterans Committee.

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 / Cubs Team Set

The front of the card features Herman making another clean play in the field, while the back highlights his accomplishments up through the 1935 season.  Cubs teammates Frank Demaree, Stan Hack (#34) and Gabby Hartnett (#134) are all name-checked as the sluggers bringing Herman home once he's reached based.

1936 Season

One of Herman's best seasons statistically, he batted .334 in 153 games with 211 hits, 57 doubles and 93 RBIs.  He was named to his third All-Star team and finished third in the MVP voting behind Carl Hubbell (#39) and Dizzy Dean (#124).

1933 Goudey #227

1933 Tattoo Orbit

1941 Double Play #3-4

1952 Topps #394

1965 Topps #251

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1933 Goudey #227
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6):  1952, 1954-55, 1960, 1965-66
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2018 Panini Diamond Kings #35

328 - Herman non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/2/26.

Sources:

1965 Topps Blog

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

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #135 "Babe" Herman - Cincinnati Reds

Next Card: #137 Waite Hoyt - Pittsburgh Pirates

#103 Bill Dickey - New York Yankees

William Malcolm Dickey

New York Yankees

Catcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  185

Born:  June 6, 1907, Bastrop, LA

Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1928-1943, 1946

World Series Appearances:  New York Yankees 1928, 1932, 1936-1939, 1941-1943

As a Manager:  New York Yankees 1946

Died:  November 12, 1993, Little Rock, AR (86)

Hall of Fame Induction:  1954

Bill Dickey was an 11-time All-Star catcher for the Yankees, behind the plate for nine American League pennants, which included eight World Series titles between 1928 and 1943.  He replaced Benny Bengough as the Yankees' starting catcher in 1929, a role he'd settle into for the next 15 seasons.  Dickey could hit for power, batted over .300 in 11 seasons and was excellent defensively behind the plate, leading the league four times in fielding percentage.  He hit over 20 home runs with at least 100 RBIs for four straight years between 1936 and 1939, and his .362 average in 1936 stood as the high-water mark for catchers until Joe Mauer batted .365 in 2009.  Dickey's best season statistically came in 1937 when he batted .332 with 29 home runs and 133 RBIs - both career bests.  In 1,789 games with the Yankees, Dickey batted .313 with 202 home runs and 1,209 RBIs.

After two years serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Dickey returned to the Yankees as player-manager for the 1946 season.  He'd serve as a coach with the Yankees from 1949 to 1957, and again in 1960.  During his tenure as Yankees' coach, Dickey helped mentor two of his successors behind the plate - Yogi Berra and Elston Howard.  He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1954, and the Yankees retired #8 in 1972 to honor both Dickey and Berra.

Building the Set

February 22, 2025 from Clifton, NJ (Probstein123) - Card #114

I had no intention of this card actually entering my collection, putting what I thought was an incredibly low bid on a recent eBay auction from seller probstein123.  The card is slabbed and graded 1.5 (fair) according to SGC, but the front of the card looks just fine to me.  Given what comparable cards have sold for over the past few years, I'm happy with the price I paid for this.  The addition of this card drops me to needing five more Diamond Stars cards for my version of a master set - Mel Ott (#50), both the error and corrected versions of the Hank Greenberg (#54) card, Pie Traynor (#99) and Stan Hack (#107).  As I get closer to the end of collecting this set, I'm coming to terms with not really needing two versions of the pricey Greenberg card.

And speaking of the master set . . . I recently spent time over at TCDB updating this set's checklist to include all 170 cards found in a Diamond Stars master set.  It had bugged me for years the TCDB checklist didn't contain any of the many back variations found throughout the set, so I decided to fix that.

Variations Available

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

This is the second Dickey card in the set, with the Hall of Fame catcher first appearing on card #11.  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 #103 is blue, similar to all cards from the third series.

The Card / Yankees Team Set

When I posted card #11, I wrote it was the "cheaper" of two Dickey cards in the set, with this second card likely one of the hardest to find out of all Diamond Stars cards.  Given my luck on eBay, I didn't pay much more for this harder to find high-number version than its lower-number counterpart.  The tip on the back explains the catcher's role whenever a batter drops a bunt.

1936 Season

Dickey enjoyed one of his best seasons in 1936, batting a record-setting (for catchers) .362 in 112 games, with 22 home runs and 107 RBIs.  As mentioned above, it was to be the first of four years in a row he'd eclipse the 20-home run and 100-RBI marks.  His batting average was good enough for third in the league, behind Luke Appling (#95), who batted. 388.  Dickey was an All-Star for the third of what would ultimately be 11 appearances.  He didn't fare well in the World Series, batting .120 over six games, but his Yankees defeated the Giants in the first of four straight World Championship titles.

1933 Goudey #19

1934-36 Batter-Up (R318) #30

1939 Play Ball #30

1941 Play Ball #70

1952 Topps #400

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1933 Goudey #19

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (2):  1952, 1960

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2017 Panini Diamond Kings #2

558 - Dickey non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/23/25.

Sources:

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

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #102 Van Mungo - Brooklyn Dodgers

Next Card: #104 Robert Rolfe - New York Yankees

#64 Jimmie Foxx - Philadelphia Athletics

James Emory Foxx

Philadelphia Athletics

First Base-Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  195

Born:  October 22, 1907, Sudlersville, MD

Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Athletics 1925-35; Boston Red Sox 1936-42; Chicago Cubs 1942, 1944; Philadelphia Phillies 1945

World Series Appearances:  Philadelphia Athletics 1929-31

Died:  July 21, 1967, Miami, FL (59)

Hall of Fame Induction:  1951

One of the greatest hitters of all-time, Jimmie Foxx was a veteran of 20 big league seasons, spending most of his career with the Athletics and Red Sox.  Foxx was dominant at the plate, winning a pair of batting titles, and a Triple Crown in 1933 when he batted .356 with 48 home runs and 163 RBIs.  He helped lead the Athletics to three straight American League pennants, winning World Championships in 1929 and 1930.  Foxx clubbed at least 30 or more home runs in 12 consecutive seasons, and drove in at least 100 runs in 13 consecutive seasons, between 1929 and 1941.  He was a nine-time All-Star, and the first player to win three MVPs, collecting the awards in 1932, 1933 and 1938.

Foxx became the second member of the 500 home run club, joining Babe Ruth (#110), on September 24, 1940.  In 2,317 major league games, Foxx collected 2,646 hits, scored 1,751 runs, had 534 home runs and 1,922 RBIs.  His RBI total is still 10th all-time.  His .325 average is currently 45th all-time, his on-base percentage of .428 is 12th all-time and his OPS of 1.038 is sixth all-time.  A member of the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame, the Athletics Hall of Fame and the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame, Foxx was inducted into Cooperstown in 1951.

Building the Set

December 15, 2024 from The Philly Show (707 Sportscards Ltd.) - Card #112

Before starting our drive to the The Philly Show, recently held inside Hall A at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania, I texted Doug a photo of Foxx's Diamond Stars card and told him to be on the look-out at the show.  Soon after we arrived, he reported back fairly quickly he had found a version of the card on the far side of the showroom floor, but that it was slabbed.  He knows I've been avoiding slabbed cards whenever possible, as they tend to carry a premium, and because I'd prefer to display the cards in my sets in their proper home, in order, within the set binder's nine-pocket pages.  (I wrote a full post summarizing the show over at The Phillies Room.)

Still, I was curious, and Doug led me to the dealer's table.  The Foxx card was in a display case, and having asked to view it, I almost immediately handed it back when I saw the price tag on the back for $725.  I'll give the dealer some credit for his assessment of the situation, as he picked the price tag off with his thumbnail and said that price was at least a few years' old.  He countered with a price nearly half the original sticker price and after a brief back and forth, I was scanning his phone to send a Venmo payment.  Given the importance of this card to the Diamond Stars set (and me), I opted to tuck the card away for 10 days so that Santa would get credit for the gift on Christmas morning.

Variations Available

1 - 1935 / green back / 1934 statistics / 1935 copyright

1945 - Foxx with the Phillies

The Card / Athletics Team Set

This is an absolutely iconic card, and a card I've seen many, many times in my 50 years of collecting.  I'm thrilled I finally have it in my collection.  National Chicle opted to show Foxx as a catcher, even though he hadn't caught a game in the majors since the 1928 season.  The Athletics, up until the 1934 season, had Mickey Cochrane (#9) behind the plate, necessitating a position change for Foxx.  The first line on the back of the card isn't accurate, as Foxx wouldn't catch a game until the start of the 1935 season, likely after this card was being found in early packs of Diamond Stars cards.

The write-up on the back also credits Foxx's strong wrists to his years spent milking cows on his father's dairy farm in Maryland.

1935 Season

Now in his 11th season, Foxx showed no signs of slowing down.  In 147 games for the Athletics, he batted .346 with a league-leading 36 home runs and 115 RBIs.  Connie Mack's (#142) team was in shambles following a fire sale of top tier players, leaving Foxx as the sole remaining star on a club that would lose 91 games.  Foxx was the opening day catcher, making 24 starts behind the plate before shifting over to first base for the duration of the season.  He'd make 121 starts at first.  Foxx moved over to third base for the All-Star Game in Cleveland, given the American League squad had Lou Gehrig (#130) at first base.  Foxx would lead the American League All-Stars to a 4-1 victory, going 2 for 3 with three RBIs, including a first-inning, two-run home run.

On December 10th, Mack would complete the team's dismantling, dealing Foxx and Johnny Marcum to the Red Sox for George Savino, Gordon Rhodes and cash.

Phillies Career

Foxx finished his legendary career back where it all began, in Philadelphia, but this time he'd be in the National League and playing for the Phillies, who signed the aging slugger on February 10, 1945.  With rosters crunched due to the war, the Phillies invited Foxx to spring training and he made the team as a pinch-hitter and surprisingly, an occasional pitcher.  Throughout the season, Foxx made 50 starts - 35 at first base, 13 at third base and two starts on the mound.

In his final major league action, he batted .268 with seven home runs and 38 RBIs.  As a pitcher, Foxx was a surprising 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in nine games and 22 2/3 innings pitched.  Offering to help the team however he could, Foxx started games on August 19th and September 2nd.  His lasted into the seventh inning in his August outing.  In Foxx's final big league game, he laced a two-run double against the Dodgers on September 23rd, before being lifted for pinch-hitter Tony Lupien in the game's seventh inning.

1933 Goudey #29

1934-36 Batter-Up #28

1938 Goudey Heads-Up #249

1941 Play Ball #13

1960 Fleer Baseball Greats #53

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1927 Playing Cards (W560)

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2023 Panini Chronicles Classics #33

931 - Foxx non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/1/25.

Sources:

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

Wikipedia

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