Looking at the list, almost all of the players with 3 cards played for teams in New York or Chicago, the country’s two largest cities. Followed by players from Pittsburgh and Detroit, large cities and two of the best teams of the era.
I think it’s all about advertising and appealing to your customers - more customers in those cities and customers want popular players. Thus, it was likely a combo of prowess, popularity, and domicile/size of city-market.
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