#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

#98 "Schoolboy" Rowe - Detroit Tigers

Lynwood Thomas Rowe

Detroit Tigers

Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  210

Born:  January 11, 1910, Waco, TX

Major League Teams:  Detroit Tigers 1933-42; Brooklyn Dodgers 1942; Philadelphia Phillies 1943, 1946-49

World Series Appearances:  Detroit Tigers 1934-35, 1940

Died:  January 8, 1961, El Dorado, AR (50)

While playing on an adult baseball team while a 15-year-old high school student, Lynnwood Rowe was given the nickname "Schoolboy," and the moniker stuck throughout his career.  Superstitious and a fan-favorite, Rowe was a star pitcher for the Tigers in the mid-1930s, winning a career-high 24 games in 1934 and following that up with consecutive 19-win seasons in 1935 and 1936.  Rowe was second in the league in strikeouts with 140 in 1935, and recorded a career-high 149 strikeouts in 1934.  He was named to both the 1935 and 1936 American League All-Star teams.  He started four games for the Tigers in the 1934 and 1935 World Series, as the team lost to the Cardinals in seven games in 1934, but won the Championship in six games over the Cubs in 1935.  In Game 2 of the 1934 Series, he pitched a 12-inning complete game for the win.  Rowe was 2-3 with a 2.76 ERA over 42 1/3 innings pitched in those two Series, to go along with 26 strikeouts.  A threat at the plate too, he batted .307 with five home runs in 1934 and 1935.

Shoulder pain and related injuries began to take a toll on Rowe beginning in 1937, although he rebounded in 1940 to go 16-3 with a 3.46 ERA for the pennant-winning Tigers.  He'd be limited to pitching in only 55 games between 1942 and 1946, due his injuries and two years of service in the U.S. Navy during World War II.  Finishing up his career with the Phillies, Rowe won at least 10 games each season between 1946 and 1948 and made his final All-Star team in 1947.  He retired with a career record of 158-101 and an ERA of 3.87 with 913 strikeouts.  Rowe batted .263 for his career with 18 home runs and 153 RBIs.  He served as the Tigers pitching coach in 1954 and 1955.

Building the Set

August 1, 2024 from Valley View, OH (Stan's Vintage Sports Cards) - Card #108

The seventh card added to our Diamond Stars set in 2024, the addition of this card put me 11 cards away from my version of a master set.  I knew adding the final cards to our set would be tough, and pricey, and I've shied away from recent eBay auctions as most of the opening bids or buy it now prices are way out of my price range.  

I made a reasonable offer to the seller, Stan's Vintage Sports Cards, on this card, the seller made a counteroffer, and I quickly accepted.  Aesthetically, I wanted to have all these cards in order in the set's binder, but with some of these more expensive cards, I'll likely leave them in their slabs and fill the empty spaces in the binder pages with reprint cards.  It could be a little while before I add another card to our set, although I do have several current eBay auctions on my watch list.  I'm assuming I'll be able to get better deals and do some more negotiating live, and I'm looking forward to hunting Diamond Stars cards at the upcoming Philly Show in September.

Variations Available

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

The Card / Tigers Team Set

This is the second Rowe card in the set, with the pitcher first appearing on card #33.  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 #98 is blue, similar to all cards from the third series.

The back of the card contains an odd tip, basically telling a pitcher not to aim for the catcher's mitt but rather to aim at some part of the catcher's body other than the mitt.  The tip goes on to claim that Rowe not only endorses this tip, but that Rowe himself can't hit a target more than two out of every three times.

1936 Season

Rowe was 19-10 with a 4.51 ERA in 41 appearances for the Tigers, as his club finished in second place behind the Yankees.  Tommy Bridges (#5) was the ace of the staff, with 23 wins and a 3.60 ERA.  Rowe made his second All-Star Game, and pitched three innings in relief of Lefty Grove (#1), giving up a pair of runs.  Battling shoulder pain, Rowe would pitch in only 14 games for the Tigers in 1937 and 1938.

Phillies Career

Rowe was purchased by the Phillies from the Dodgers on March 24, 1943.  Now throwing a knuckle ball, he'd appear in 27 games that season for the Phillies, going 14-8 with a 2.94 ERA in 199 innings pitched.  Rowe was also the team's top pinch-hitter with 15 pinch-hits in 51 at-bats.  After two years in the Navy, Rowe made an impressive comeback in 1946, and was 11-4 with a 2.12 ERA in 17 games pitched.  In his first start in nearly two years on April 21, 1946, the 36-year-old Rowe threw an 11-inning complete game, although in a losing effort.  He'd win 14 games in 1947 and was named to the National League All-Star team.  Rowe would pitch in two more seasons for the Phillies before injuries finally caught up to him, and the team released him following the 1949 season. Rowe would just miss participating in the triumphant march of the Whiz Kids towards the 1950 National League pennant.  In 128 games with the Phillies, he was 52-39 with a 3.54 ERA and 245 strikeouts.

1934-36 Batter-Up (R318) #184

1935 Goudey 4-in-1 (R321)

1939 Play Ball #60

1949 Bowman #216

1954 Topps #197

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1934-36 Batter-Up (R318) #184

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1):  1954

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Topps Archives 1954 #197

57 - Rowe non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/4/24.

Sources:

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #97 "Al" Lopez - Boston Bees

Next Card: #99 "Pie" Traynor - Pittsburgh Pirates

#33 "Schoolboy" Rowe - Detroit Tigers

Lynwood Thomas Rowe

Detroit Tigers

Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  210

Born:  January 11, 1910, Waco, TX

Major League Teams:  Detroit Tigers 1933-1942; Brooklyn Dodgers 1942; Philadelphia Phillies 1943, 1946-1949

World Series Appearances:  Detroit Tigers 1934-1935, 1940

Died:  January 8, 1961, El Dorado, AR (50)

While playing on an adult baseball team while a 15-year-old high school student, Lynnwood Rowe was given the nickname "Schoolboy," and the moniker stuck throughout his career.  Superstitious and a fan-favorite, Rowe was a star pitcher for the Tigers in the mid-1930s, winning a career-high 24 games in 1934 and following that up with consecutive 19-win seasons in 1935 and 1936.  Rowe was second in the league in strikeouts with 140 in 1935, and recorded a career-high 149 strikeouts in 1934.  He was named to both the 1935 and 1936 American League All-Star teams.  He started four games for the Tigers in the 1934 and 1935 World Series, as the team lost to the Cardinals in seven games in 1934, but won the Championship in six games over the Cubs in 1935.  In Game 2 of the 1934 Series, he pitched a 12-inning complete game for the win.  Rowe was 2-3 with a 2.76 ERA over 42 1/3 innings pitched in those two Series, to go along with 26 strikeouts.  A threat at the plate too, he batted .307 with five home runs in 1934 and 1935.

Shoulder pain and related injuries began to take a toll on Rowe beginning in 1937, although he rebounded in 1940 to go 16-3 with a 3.46 ERA for the pennant-winning Tigers.  He'd be limited to pitching in only 55 games between 1942 and 1946, due his injuries and two years of service in the U.S. Navy during World War II.  Finishing up his career with the Phillies, Rowe won at least 10 games each season between 1946 and 1948 and made his final All-Star team in 1947.  He retired with a career record of 158-101 and an ERA of 3.87 with 913 strikeouts.  Rowe batted .263 for his career with 18 home runs and 153 RBIs.  He served as the Tigers pitching coach in 1954 and 1955.

Building the Set

March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Dean's House of Cards) - Card #46

I wrote about this show over at The Phillies Room, and admittedly the focus of my morning was putting a huge dent in the remaining cards needed for our 1965 Topps set.  But shortly after entering the showroom floor, my attention was drawn to a table containing open binders with DeLong and Goudey cards from the 1930s.  I thought this dealer would also have some Diamond Stars cards for sale, and my assumption was correct.  I soon found a decent amount of Diamond Stars cards for sale, in varying conditions, and from all three series of the set.  

The backs of the cards had two prices listed - one fairly high and one relatively reasonable.  The dealer, Larrie  Dean, told me it was my choice which price I paid.  Appreciating that sort of sense of humor, I set out to find three or four cards and I told Larrie I'd be opting to pay the lower of the two prices.

This Rowe card was one of four cards purchased from Dean's House of Cards from Midlothian, Virginia.  Based on the lower of the two prices on the back of the card, it cost me only $25.

Variations Available

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

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.  Rowe shows up again as card #98, with the same text on the back save for his 1935 statistics at the bottom replacing his 1934 statistics.  Also, the ink on the back of card #98 is blue, similar to all cards from the third series.

The Card / Tigers Team Set

The back of the card contains an odd tip, basically telling a pitcher not to aim for the catcher's mitt but rather to aim at some part of the catcher's body other than the mitt.  The tip goes on to claim that Rowe not only endorses this tip, but that Rowe himself can't hit a target more than two out of every three times.

1935 Season

Coming off arguably his career year, Rowe stayed steady with a 19-13 record and a 3.69 ERA while leading the league with six shutouts.  Tommy Bridges (#5) had a few more wins than Rowe with 21, and Bridges recorded 163 strikeouts to Rowe's 140.  Rowe was named to his first All-Star team, but did not pitch.  In the World Series, he started Games 1 and 5 and pitched four innings out of the bullpen in Game 3, earning the win.  The Tigers defeated the Cubs in six games, with Rowe the losing pitcher in both games won by the Cubs.

Phillies Career

Rowe was purchased by the Phillies from the Dodgers on March 24, 1943.  Now throwing a knuckle ball, he'd appear in 27 games that season for the Phillies, going 14-8 with a 2.94 ERA in 199 innings pitched.  Rowe was also the team's top pinch-hitter with 15 pinch-hits in 51 at-bats.  After two years in the Navy, Rowe made an impressive comeback in 1946, and was 11-4 with a 2.12 ERA in 17 games pitched.  In his first start in nearly two years on April 21, 1946, the 36-year-old Rowe threw an 11-inning complete game, although in a losing effort.  He'd win 14 games in 1947 and was named to the National League All-Star team.  Rowe would pitch in two more seasons for the Phillies before injuries finally caught up to him, and the team released him following the 1949 season. Rowe would just miss participating in the triumphant march of the Whiz Kids towards the 1950 National League pennant.  In 128 games with the Phillies, he was 52-39 with a 3.54 ERA and 245 strikeouts.

1934-36 Batter-Up (R318) #184

1935 Goudey 4-in-1 (R321)

1939 Play Ball #60

1949 Bowman #216

1954 Topps #197

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1934-36 Batter-Up (R318) #184

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1):  1954

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Topps Archives 1954 #197

55 - Rowe non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/11/22.

Sources:

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #32 Sam Rice - Cleveland Indians

Next Card: #34 Stanley Hack - Chicago Cubs

#73 "Fritz" Ostermueller - Boston Red Sox

Frederick Raymond Ostermueller

Boston Red Sox

Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  175

Born:  September 15, 1907, Quincy, IL

Major League Teams:  Boston Red Sox 1934-1940; St. Louis Browns 1941-1943; Brooklyn Dodgers 1943-1944; Pittsburgh Pirates 1944-1948

Died:  December 17, 1957, Quincy, IL (50)

A starting pitcher for most of his career, Fritz Ostermueller spent 15 seasons in the majors, winning at least ten games in seven of those seasons.  He came up with the Red Sox at the age of 26, pitching as part of that team's starting rotation for seven seasons.  One of his best seasons in the majors was also his first as Ostermueller was 10-13 with a 3.49 ERA for the 1934 Red Sox, pitching 198 2/3 innings.  He'd move to the Browns in 1941, then briefly to the Dodgers in 1943, before settling in with the Pirates for the final five years of his big league career.  He threw a career-high 246 1/3 innings in 1944 with the Dodgers and Pirates, and was again a 13 game winner.  Ostermueller would win 13 games one more time in 1946 and he'd pitch until the age of 40 in 1948.  His quote, "Home run hitters drive Cadillacs, singles hitters drive Fords," has been often mis-attributed to Pirates' teammate Ralph Kiner.

Ostermueller was portrayed in the movie 42 as the Pirates pitcher who hit Dodgers' star Jackie Robinson in the head during a game on May 17, 1947 at Forbes Field, sparking a bench-clearing brawl.  In reality, the pitch hit Robinson in the wrist and newspaper accounts from the day contain no mention of a brawl.  The movie also incorrectly portrayed Ostermueller as a right-handed pitcher.  In 390 career games, Ostermueller was 114-115 with a 3.99 ERA in 2,066 2/3 innings pitched.

Building the Set

January 21, 2022 from Key West, FL (Quality Baseball Cards) - Card #43

Mid-January is never a fun time for me, and needing a break during a long work day I found myself on eBay looking for the remaining Dick Bartell (#15 and #101) variations I needed.  I had recently added his most commonly found card from the set, noting his team as the Giants on the back, but I wanted to try to find his other two cards from the set as well.  

In my travels, I found what I considered to be extremely unusual for this pandemic-induced collecting age - a large group of auctions from seller quality*cards from the Diamond Stars set with no bids, including the elusive Bartell card from the set's third series.  I set my opening bids, and waited a few days for the auctions to close.  Again, much to my surprise, there was little to no action on the auctions until their closing minutes.  I lost a few auctions as the seconds ticked away, but I came away with six new cards overall, including this Ostermueller card for less than $40.

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 Ostermueller card for my set is the first of the three variations available.

The Card / Red Sox Team Set

There's so much to appreciate with the design of this card.  I think National Chicle went the horizontal route in order to have room for Ostermueller's lengthy name.  We get a shot of the bleachers in front of a city skyline and a first baseman in the background waiting for a potential play.  I'm going to pretend that it's Ed Morgan making a cameo, as he was the Red Sox primary first baseman during the 1934 season.  The tip on the back of the card is a bit ironic, given Ostermueller struggled with control his entire career.  He often had more walks than strikeouts in any given season, and his career totals were 774 strikeouts to 835 walks.

1935 Season

This was Ostermueller's sophomore season in the majors, and he'd appear in only 22 games for the Red Sox, making 19 starts.  He went 7-8 with a 3.92 ERA for the fourth place team.  Injuries took a toll on the lefty as he injured is knee in spring training and then was hit in the face with a line drive off the bat of the Tigers' Hank Greenberg (#54) on May 25th.  After recovering from that, he was struck again by a batted ball, this time off the bat of the Browns' Moose Solters (#85) on August 18th, breaking Ostermueller's fibula.  He somehow managed to make four more appearances that season with the broken fibula, including pitching a complete game against the Indians on August 25th.

1934 Goudey #93

1939 Play Ball #27

1940 Play Ball #33

1949 Bowman #227

1991 Conlon Collection TSN #99

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1934 Goudey #93

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1991 Conlon Collection TSN #99

24 - Ostermueller non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/29/22.

Sources:

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #72 "Tony" Piet - Chicago White Sox

Next Card: #74 Tony Lazzeri - New York Yankees

#111 Phil Cavarretta - Chicago Cubs

Philip Joseph Cavarretta

Chicago Cubs

First Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  175

Born:  July 19, 1916, Chicago, IL

Major League Teams:  Chicago Cubs 1934-1953; Chicago White Sox 1954-1955

World Series Appearances:  Chicago Cubs 1935, 1938, 1945

As a Manager:  Chicago Cubs 1951-1953

Died:  December 18, 2010, Liburn, GA (94)

Phil Cavarretta made his debut with the Cubs a few months after his 18th birthday, and he spent the next 22 years compiling an impressive playing career in Chicago.  He was a regular with the Cubs from the mid-1930s until the late-1940s, playing first base and all three outfield positions.  Cavarretta enjoyed a career resurgence in the mid-1940s after missing significant time between 1938 and 1940 with a hip injury and a broken ankle.  He made his first of three All-Star teams in 1944, and also led the league that season with 197 hits.  In 1945, Cavarretta won the league's batting title with a .355 mark and was named the National League MVP.  He batted .423 in the 1945 World Series, although the Cubs lost in seven games to the Tigers.  Towards the end of his time with the Cubs, Cavarretta served as the team's player-manager between 1951 and 1953, guiding the team to a 169-213 record and finishing as high as fifth place in 1952.  He spent a final two seasons playing for the White Sox before retiring.  Cavarretta appeared in 2,030 games, collecting 1,977 hits while batting .293.  His 1,927 hits while with the Cubs are currently 10th on the franchise's all-time leader's list, and he was the all-time Cubs leader in games played with 1,953 before Ernie Banks surpassed the mark in 1966.

Cavarretta managed in the minor leagues between 1956 and 1958, and again between 1965 and 1972.  He'd later serve as a major league coach for the Tigers (1961-1963) and Mets (1975-1978).  Cavarretta is a member of the Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame.

Building the Set

December 11, 2020 from San Diego, CA (Kit Young Cards)

On the night I impulsively decided to collect the original Diamond Stars set, and I subsequently purchased the Harvey Hendrick (#41) card from Kit Young Cards, I also added the complete, and first, extended set to my cart for the very reasonable price of $7.50.  The 12 cards in this first extended set were originally issued in 1981.

In the early 1980s, a family member of a former National Chicle employee discovered an uncut sheet of 12 unused cards presumably meant as a 1937 continuation of the Diamond Stars set.  As originally advertised, and as mentioned on the back of every card issued, the company had intended for the set to contain 240 subjects.  They only produced 108 cards before production was halted, and the theory is this newly found sheet represented a "lost" continuation of the set.  Fortunately, the images of the cards made their way into the collecting world and a 12-card "what if" set was created.  (More on the uncut sheet can be found here from SABR's Baseball Cards Research Committee and from this Ryan Cracknell article for Beckett.)

The Beckett online database lists the set as "1981 Diamond Stars Continuation Den's" and the set's description notes "This set was created and produced by Denny Eckes.  Hobbyist Mike Galella was involved in bringing this sheet to the the public.  These cards were originally available from the producer for $3."  The back of the cards have a 1981 copyright attributed to Den's Collectors Den, the company belonging to the aforementioned Eckes.  I found the ad shown here within the pages of the The Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide, published in 1982.

The 12 cards include more ambitious geometric designs than the original Diamond Stars cards,  although the overall color template remains the same as their 1934 to 1936 counterparts.

Variations Available

1 - 1981 / blue back / 1936 statistics / 1981 copyright

The Card / Cubs Team Set

This card, along with most of the contemporary cards issued for Cavarretta in the 1930s and 1940s, misspell his name with only one "R."  The text on the back of the card refers to how young Cavarretta was (20 years old as of July 19, 1936) and that he had only spent the 1934 season playing in the minor leagues.

1937 Season

The Cubs finished in second place in the National League, three games behind the pennant-winning New York Giants.  Cavarretta saw action in 106 games, making 84 total starts - 40 at first base, 38 in center field and six in left field.  The Cubs players with more starts at each of those positions than Cavarretta were Ripper Collins at first, Joe Marty in center field and Augie Galan in left field, none of whom appeared in the original Diamond Stars set.  Cavarretta batted .286 with five home runs and 56 RBIs.

1934-36 Batter-Up (R318) #101

1941 Double Play #103

1949 Bowman #6

1952 Topps #295

1955 Bowman #282

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1934-36 Batter-Up (R318) #101

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (2):  1952, 1954

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2014 Panini Golden Age #89

79 - Cavarretta non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/22/21.

Sources:

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #110 Pete Fox - Detroit Tigers

Next Card: #112 Leon Goslin - Detroit Tigers

#45 "Jo Jo" White - Detroit Tigers

Joyner Clifford White

Detroit Tigers

Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  162

Born:  June 1, 1909, Red Oak, GA

Major League Teams:  Detroit Tigers 1932-1938; Philadelphia Athletics 1943-1944; Cincinnati Reds 1944

World Series Appearances:  Detroit Tigers 1934-1935

As a Manager:  Cleveland Indians 1960

Died:  October 9, 1986, Tacoma, WA (77)

Jo-Jo White, given that nickname because of the way he pronounced his home state of Georgia, was the starting center fielder for the Tigers team that went to the World Series in 1934 and 1935 and won the championship in 1935.  He finished in the top 10 for American League stolen bases in three different seasons, and White's SABR biography comments on the legend that Tigers great Ty Cobb himself tutored White in the art of running the bases.  His best season came in 1934 when he hit .313 with 97 runs scored, 28 stolen bases and a career-high 43 RBIs.  After a four-season stint with the Seattle Rainiers in the Pacific Coast League, White returned to the majors and appeared in parts of two seasons with the Athletics and Reds in 1943 and 1944.  He finished up his playing career with five more seasons in the Pacific Coast League, leading the league in batting with a .355 average as a member of the Sacramento Solons in 1945.

White later served as a long-time minor and major league coach, with a one-game stint as the Indians interim manager in 1960.  His coaching journey included jobs with the Indians (1959-1960), Tigers (1960), Athletics (1961-1962), Braves (1963-1966) and Royals (1969).  Jo-Jo's son Mike played in parts of three seasons with the Colt .45s/Astros between 1963 and 1965.  I wrote about Mike over on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set

December 15, 2020 from Longmont, CO (BBC Emporium) - Card #4

Bitten by the bug of collecting a new set, I decided I could justify an early Christmas present to myself and while on a particularly long and unproductive work video meeting, I found four more cards for my set.  Along with this White card, I added the cards of Roy Mahaffey (#10), Red Rolfe (#29) and Fred M. Frankhouse (#62).  Rolfe and White were the priciest two of the four-card lot from BBC Emporium located in Longmont, Colorado.

Variations Available

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

The Card / Tigers Team Set

The reference photo used for White's card is from 1933 at the latest, as that's the last season the Tigers wore pinstriped jerseys.  I won't spend too much time on the backgrounds for these cards on every post, but the background here could only appear on a Diamond Stars card.  The four monochromatic colors - light blue, yellow, red, dark blue - the angles and lines in the background design and the lone yellow pennant are all often-used traits for this pre-war set.  The back of the card explains the art of White's "kicking slide," which very well may have been taught to him by Cobb.

1935 Season

Guided by manager/catcher Mickey Cochrane (#9), the Tigers won the 1935 World Series in six games over the Cubs.  White was the club's regular center fielder, sharing the outfield with Goose Goslin (#112) in left and Pete Fox (#110) in right.  In 114 games, White batted only .240 and had the lowest average of any of the regulars, but he still scored 82 runs.  He drove in the winning run in the 11th inning of Game 3 of the World Series, singling home Marv Owen (#67).

1936 Goudey Wide Pen Premiums

1936 World Wide Gum

1949 Bowman PCL #14

1960 Topps #460

1992 Conlon Collection TSN #612

Other Notable Baseball Cards

First Mainstream Card:  1934-1936 Diamond Stars #45

Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1):  1960

Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1992 Conlon Collection TSN #612

28 - White non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/22/20.

Sources:

Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia 

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