Calling all team collectors

[GeoPoto]

I don't see a lot of team-collector discussion/posts here. But, as I am one (Washington), I thought I would try this. Team collectors have HoFers who are viewed as having spent their entire (more or less) career with that team. For me that is Walter Johnson, Sam Rice, Bucky Harris, (maybe) Goose Goslin, and (sorta) Clark Griffith. Followed by HoFers whose careers were split between success in Washington and elsewhere -- (probably) Goslin, Joe Cronin, and Heinie Manush. Then you have important career Washington players, who didn't make the HoF -- Sam Judge, Buddy Myer, Deerfoot Milan, and Ossie Bluege come to mind, among others.

To a (Washington) team-collector, all of those players have multiple important cards. Lesser players and/or players with less Washington experience round out the universe of interest. Some of these "lesser" players may have figured into important moments in team history, but they generally hold less interest than the ones mentioned above.

Finally though, there is one additional group of particularly interesting players. These are high-profile (HoF or otherwise) players who have only passing associations with Washington and, though well known to baseball collectors, are not generally thought of as Washington players. Here are some examples. The last one is Al Simmons.

Perhaps other team-collectors have similar examples in their collections. Famous and/or very accomplished players who did not earn their fame with the collected team, but did manage to be on a card for the collected team.

https://net54baseball.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=391482&stc=1&d=1585592368
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[BaltOrioles]

I don't see a lot of team-collector discussion/posts here.

Finally though, there is one additional group of particularly interesting players. These are high-profile (HoF or otherwise) players who have only passing associations with Washington and, though well known to baseball collectors, are not generally thought of as Washington players.

Perhaps other team-collectors have similar examples in their collections. Famous and/or very accomplished players who did not earn their fame with the collected team, but did manage to be on a card for the collected team.


There's a nice ongoing thread for Orioles team collectors. Here's a few players that immediately came to mind, even though there are more Orioles that would fit into that group.

Reggie Jackson, Don Larsen, Robin Roberts and Dwight Evans

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[Tom S.]

Hal Chase only spent 1-1/2 years with the White Sox; I guess that he would count. (BTW - does anyone else think that the batter on the back of the Tom Barker card looks like him?)

https://www.collectorfocus.com/images/show/tom26964/white-sox-pre-war-type-set/28454/1913-wg6-tom-barker-game

[ValKehl]

George, you have just confirmed what I have suspected for some time - you and I are most likely seeking many of the same pre-War cards of Washington Senators players. I collect (1) as many cards as I can of all the players on the 1924 WS Championship Team, with special emphasis on Sam Rice & WaJo cards, and (2) type cards, with my type examples being Senators, where feasible.

BTW, one important career Washington player, who didn't make the HOF, but was well on his way before WWII ruined his career, is Cecil Travis.

To add some pics to this post, here are cards of some of the much-lesser-known players on the 1924 Senators team:

[JLange]

Love this thread! I'm a Cleveland Baseball collector - Indians, Naps, Spiders, etc. There are a ton of stars and HOFers better associated with other teams for which I collect their Cleveland cards/collectibles, especially guys who were coaches, managers, GMs in Cleveland but played their baseball elsewhere. Here's a short list: Hank Greenberg (GM), Billy Evans (GM), Walter Johnson (MGR), Luke Appling (CO), Bill McKechnie (CO), Red Ruffing (CO), Al Simmons (CO), Warren Spahn(CO), Billy Williams (CO) just to name a few. I am interested in their time in Cleveland, even though sometimes incredibly brief. I am also interested in those guys who came up in the Cleveland farm system, and those guys that passed through near the end of their careers. Even though I love the stars and HOfers who spent big portions of their careers in Cleveland, there's something about guys with shorter affiliations with the team that piques my interest. Not sure if its the scarcity factor for their collectibles, or the surprise to learn they were even on the team (maybe only in spring training), but I pursue them as vigorously as I do the career Cleveland guys.

Here's a few you don't think to associate with Cleveland so much, but their photos tell a different story!

Pictured below: CO Red Ruffing, CO Al Simmons, Lou Piniella, Zoilo Versalles, Gus Zernial, Blue Moon Odom

[JLange]

Also, as serious team collectors come to find out, there are not cards of every player who ever donned your team's uniform. That is the reason my own pursuit has taken me into team publicity photos, news photos, picture packs, and publications just to find a collectible image of the player - which makes my response better suited for the memorabilia side of the board. Even with that, I am still looking for cards or collectibles of nearly a third of the historical Cleveland team.

That's the reality of being a team collector if you are pursuing the whole team!

[GeoPoto]

George, you have just confirmed what I have suspected for some time - you and I are most likely seeking many of the same pre-War cards of Washington Senators players.

Your cards are amazing. At least it is only the two of us.

Here's a few you showed and a couple you didn't.

https://net54baseball.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=391699&stc=1&d=1585649839
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[Hankphenom]

George, you have just confirmed what I have suspected for some time - you and I are most likely seeking many of the same pre-War cards of Washington Senators players. I collect (1) as many cards as I can of all the players on the 1924 WS Championship Team, with special emphasis on Sam Rice & WaJo cards, and (2) type cards, with my type examples being Senators, where feasible.

BTW, one important career Washington player, who didn't make the HOF, but was well on his way before WWII ruined his career, is Cecil Travis.

To add some pics to this post, here are cards of some of the much-lesser-known players on the 1924 Senators team:

One of the amazing things about the '24 Nats is how incredibly weak the bench was, and even in some of the starting positions and pitching. An amazing number of cup-of-coffee guys were picked up and tried out during the season in an attempt to fill the centerfield and third base jobs, shore up the relief pitching, and provide reliable bench help. Finally, Earl McNeely--who had never played in the majors--and Ossie Bluege solidified those spots in time for the pennant run and world series, but this area of severe weakness came to the fore in the series when Peckinpaugh went down with an injury in game six and Ralph Miller and Tommy Taylor, with almost no big league experience between them, had to fill in at third in the legendary 7th game. Question for you, Val: what 1924 players have you been unable to find cards for, or I should say aren't known have a card?

[TheBig6]

I believe this is as close as your going to get Glenn Myatt in an A’s uniform, albeit drawing.
Had a cup of coffee with the A’s in 1920. Then on to the Indians.
https://photos.imageevent.com/ruckers/theglennmyattalbum/websize/myatt_1.jpg

[SAllen2556]

For the Tigers, Earl Averill and Waite Hoyt played 2 seasons each. Al Simmons played 1 season, and Eddie Mathews played about a season and a half.

Larry Doby has a '59 Topps card with Detroit, but I think he barely played with them.

Carl Hubbell was actually a Tiger prospect before the Giants got him. I would love to know if there's a Spring training photo out there somewhere of him in a Tiger uniform.


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[ValKehl]

Your cards are amazing. At least it is only the two of us.

Here's a few you showed and a couple you didn't.

George, thanks for the kind words. Your cards aren't too shabby either! I especially like your Holland Creameries cards. One of my greatest hobby regrets was not pulling the trigger about 20 years ago when I had the opportunity to purchase the Holland short-print card of Peckinpaugh, because I thought the asking price was too high. Back then, it was the only example of this card known to exist, and it may still be.

[ValKehl]

... Question for you, Val: what 1924 players have you been unable to find cards for, or I should say aren't known have a card?

Hank, as best as I have been able to determine, no contemporaneous cards were issued for the following players (with the number of games in which each appeared for the 1924 Senators in parenthesis):
- Carl East (2 games).
- George "Showboat" Fisher (15 games).
- Harold "Chick" Gagnon (4 games).
- Bert "Buck" Griffith (Matt Williams' grandfather) (6 games).
- Carr Smith (5 games).
- Tommy Taylor (26 games).

And, not that you asked, I believe only one contemporaneous card was issued for each of the following players:
- Wade Lefler (5 games) - 1921 Baltimore Orioles White's Tip Top Bread (don't have).
- Walter "Slim" McGrew (6 games) - 1924 Diaz Cigarettes (see below).
- Ralph Miller (9 games) - 1925 Holland Creameries (see below).
- Ernest "Mule" Shirley (30 games) - 1925 Holland Creameries (see below).

This has been very much a challenging and fun collecting endeavor.

[Hankphenom]

Hank, as best as I have been able to determine, no contemporaneous cards were issued for the following players (with the number of games in which each appeared for the 1924 Senators in parenthesis):
- Carl East (2 games).
- George "Showboat" Fisher (15 games).
- Harold "Chick" Gagnon (4 games).
- Bert "Buck" Griffith (Matt Williams' grandfather) (6 games).
- Carr Smith (5 games).
- Tommy Taylor (26 games).

And, not that you asked, I believe only one contemporaneous card was issued for each of the following players:
- Wade Lefler (5 games) - 1921 Baltimore Orioles White's Tip Top Bread (don't have).
- Walter "Slim" McGrew (6 games) - 1924 Diaz Cigarettes (see below).
- Ralph Miller (9 games) - 1925 Holland Creameries (see below).
- Ernest "Mule" Shirley (30 games) - 1925 Holland Creameries (see below).

This has been very much a challenging and fun collecting endeavor.

Thanks, Val. Amazing that all these guys played on a team that would go on to win the world series! Lefler's is an incredible story: basically, he won them the pennant during his cup of coffee, then didn't make the world series squad, in spite of his record with them of 5 for 8 with 4 key RBIs. How could they not take him to the series as a pinch-hitter? One of many strange stories from that season. I knew his niece, by the way, a beautiful girl.

[ramram]

My Kansas City boys.

Rob M

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