Lefty Gomez Rookie Card?

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Posted By: Richard

Greetings, what is considered the rookie card of "Lefty" Gomez? Look forward to some replies.
Happy Holidays

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Posted By: fkw

First card 1929 Zeenut.

After that...
1932 Orbit Gum Pin #120
1932 US Caramel

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

The 1929 Zeenut is a Minor League Card.

Some consider those to be "Rookie" cards... but not the majority.

Most would consider the 1932 US Caramel to be his "Rookie" card as it is his first Major League card.



BUT....

there was a lot of discussion on here about these cards being from 1933 and NOT from 1932...

http://www.network54.com/Forum/153652/thread/1125497281/last-1125606389/Apparent+dating+error+in+R328+Standard+Catalog+lis ting</a

so the latest 2007 Edition of the Standard Catalog lists the US Caramels as 1933 cards!!



Which means that Lefty Gomez's real "Rookie" cards are ANY of the multiple cards printed in 1933:

US Caramel, Goudey, DeLong, etc.

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Posted By: Richard

I agree with Hal on this. I do not consider minor league cards the official rookie card. I wonder though if there is still a small possibility that the 1932 US Caramel set was actually issued in 1932? Was it just a misconception all those years? Or perhaps enough research wasn't done to clarify the issue. I would like to ask Hal what he considers the Lefty Gomez rookie card or cards? I personally would collect ALL his 1933 cards to play it safe. I think there are quite a few. Thanks to all who replied to my inquiry, it is appreciated.
Happy Holidays

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Posted By: fkw

If your a Vernon Gomez collector, go for them all .

IMO The best and most desired of the bunch is the Zeenut. But thats just me, I like the first (oldest) card of any player and feel it is far more important (and in demand) than a 1st card as a Major Leaguer.

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

I agree 100% that the Zeenut is more desirable, harder to find and probably worth a lot more than the 1933 cards...

but I just wouldn't call the Zeenut his "rookie" card.

Therefore, it falls outside the scope of my collecting habit... but is still a great card. Same is true for the US Caramel.

Under the semi-rules of this board...

the Zeenut is what we affectionately call his "PROOKIE" card.

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

I was digging out player manager cards for Bruce, so my Animal Crackers box that I keep ZeeNuts in was right there handy.

Frank.





And I'm in agreement with all above. This may well be the lefty's first card. But he's not a rookie as we generally use the term if he stays in the minors. Once he's in the majors, then a card depicting him there would be the rookie card I think. I don't have the US Caramel, not any of them, but I'd like one as a type card in good condition, of any of them. (I take that back, I have Jack Dempsey, but he wasn't a base ballist.) I've got the 33 Goudey, I like this beat up ZeeNut much more than the Goudey.

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

Anyone have a scan of the 33 US Caramel?

Frank.

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

Glad to honor your request....this card came from the same dusty old cedar box that the
mysterious Foxx card was in. Let me see what other cardboard "treasures" I have hidden
in that box for the past 20+ years.

TED Z

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Posted By: dan mckee

I vote US Caramel as the rookie. The zeenut is a pre-rookie like the Baltimore News Ruth and the much more rare and valuable TCMA 1981 Cal Ripken.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

Either that or the set creators had ESP; we had a thread on this before.

And maybe the Zeenut isn't a "rookie" but you have to wonder what value the rookie designation has when the guy has a card that predates the "rookie" by several years and is more valuable. But we've had this discussion, too. I will simply close with