1911 E-Unc Baseball Bats cards

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Originally Posted by 4815162342

Nice cards, gentlemen; I like this set.

Just curious: why does Old Cardboard list these as 1912?

Daryl,
I believe the 1912 date Old Cardboard assigns to the Baseball Bats set could be based on the fact John Flynn played for Pittsburgh until August 1911, then was sold to St. Paul. He never played for Chicago (his affiliation in Baseball Bats) and was briefly with Washington in 1912. However, he may have had or been rumored to have a trial with Chicago in late 1911 or 1912 (player movements weren't as easy to access then as they are today). Also, Elmer Criger did not cross paths with the Red Sox until spring training of 1911 when he caught their eye pitching against Boston in exhibition games. He, too, never played for Boston in the majors.
As for which style of Baseball Bats is more common, over many years of collecting this set I've found the cards without orange borders slightly more common than those with orange borders, but the sample size (100+) is too small to make a definitive pronouncement. It's worth pointing out that I've never seen any of the 12 cards with red backgrounds in any other format. Most of the bigger stars are found with red backgrounds (and orange borders), so you naturally see more of these in auctions and on this board.
By the way, I need four "commons" to complete this set: Ames, Bridwell, Miller, Sheckard. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated (I have duplicates to trade).
B.ob Ri.char.dson