Posted By:
Chris CountsHere’s a trivia question to ponder: Who was the best major league player since 1900 to never appear on a baseball card? If it's okay with everybody, let's keep the discussion to cards issued during a player's active career. While the answer, as well as the definition of a baseball “card," will always be subject to debate, I nominate former Chicago Cubs pitcher Claude Passeau.
From what I can tell, the Cubs twirler was represented in the 1939-46 Exhibit card series, as well as in sets of Cubs team-issued photographs from 1939 to 1943. There’s also a Baseball Magazine premium of him. Many collectors consider Exhibits to be postcards, and certainly a good case could be made that the Cubs photos are premiums, and not cards.
Passeau's obituary, which was published in the New York Times on Sept. 2, 2003, does a nice job of summarizing his talents: “Pitching for 13 seasons in the National League, with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Cubs, Passeau had a career record of 162-150 with a 3.32 earned run average.”
He also tossed 26 shutouts and received MVP votes on three separate occassions. By today’s standards, those stats are worth at least a five-year, $50 million deal, especially when you consider Claude pitched for some pretty crummy teams (although his stats were undoubtedly padded because he thrived during World War II, when many of the best players were serving overseas).
Why was there no card of Passeau? If life was fair, there would have been cards of him in the 1939, 1940 and 1941 Play Ball sets. But for some reason, there are no active Cubs (there are a few old-timers in the ‘40 set) in any of the Play Ball issues. I’ve always figured it must have had something to do with owner Philip K. Wrigley considering Play Ball’s gum competition to his Wrigley gum. Perhaps that’s why the Cubs issued more team issued photos than any other team during the early gum card era (1933-41). Also, he played during World War II, when the government put serious restrictions on what goods could be produced. Baseball cards supposedly were not on list, although the 1943 M.P. & Co. set challenges that theory (as well as good taste).
Can anybody come up with a card of Passeau that I'm missing? Also, can anybody come up with a better player than Passeau who never had a card? Finally, if you're a Cubs fan, how is Passeau represented in your collection?