T207 -- "Unknown" Players
 

One of the aspects of T207 I enjoy are the many "unknown" players.

Of course, the most famous being good ol' Irv Lewis. Not only did he not make the Boston roster, but also never made Lowell roster, of which he was designated. So absolutely no "organized" baseball at all.

I also enjoy looking up the players if the bio. sparks an interest. Of which, Eugene Woodburn being one of them (mainly because of the mention of his control issues):

Attachment 562438

So let's take a look at some of his Major Lg. stats:

2 years // 2 - 10 record // 5.50 ERA // 86 IP // 82 BB // .053 BA

You can read more if interested:

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/gene-woodburn/

Him being a great ventriloquist is the best part .............. :)

Anyway ............. Would anyone like to share their favorite "unknowns" ?? Or, can you "beat" any of Woodburn's "records" ???

Fun, fun, Scott :rolleyes:

Great read, thanks for sharing :)

So true...Eugene's lips are barely open but I swear I just heard him disgustedly exclaim "my development was not retarded!"

Brian

Just for the record, Irving B. Lewis played in 5 games for Lynn of the New England League in 1912, going 0 for 9.

Nice, I enjoy reading stories like this. It is one of the aspects that make collecting so fun!

I hope old Irv decided to try another profession. Baseball certainly was not his calling.

Here is Delos 'Del' Drake. Besides his one year (1911) for the Tigers mentioned on his T207, he played two seasons in the Federal League. In the typical T207 biographical style, they downplay his effectiveness as a ballplayer, even though in 315 at bats he scored 37 runs, had 9 triples and 36 rbi's and a .279 battting average. Here is a link to his SABR profile, and below that a snippet from it that points out his part in the creation of what became a managerial strategy standby:

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/delos-drake/

In his only season with the Tigers, Del Drake made a lasting mark on the game. Bill James maintains that the regular use by manager Hughie Jennings of Del against left-handed pitchers and of Davy Jones against right-handed pitchers in 1911 was the first documented case of platooning during the regular season in the major leagues.

So that is why I insisted that his T207 card for my collection was one that had 'platooned' corners.

Brian (may your T207's have the sharp, rounded or platooned corners of your choosing)

T207
 

Robert "Ham" Hamilton Hyatt played in approx. 420 games over 7 seasons with Pittsburgh, St Louis Cardinals and NY Yankees (mainly as a pinch-hitter).


https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...McLeanT207.jpg

https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...ecruitT207.jpg


TED Z

T206 Reference
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Ham Hyatt
 

Speaking of Ham Hyatt, somebody actually wrote a book about him and how he selected his bats. See: https://www.amazon.com/Baseball-Stor.../dp/1737836629

I bought the book and thought it was a fun and quick read.