T-206 cards and their stories....

[Luke]

Quinn is also the only player to have a card in the T206 set and 1933 Goudey.

[xplainer]

Thanks Christopher and Tim.

That's the kind of stuff I'm talking about. It isn't just a piece of cardboard. To me, it represents a life lived. Thanks for the input.

[Jantz]

Check out Lena Blackburne and his Magic Mud website.

[xplainer]

Great story. I knew they used special mud, but didn't know the story.
Here is the link:

http://www.baseballrubbingmud.com/

[wolf441]

Originally Posted by LukeLyon

Quinn is also the only player to have a card in the T206 set and 1933 Goudey.

+Speaker and Lajoie (if you count Nap)

[Luke]

Good point Steve. I forgot about Speaker, and wouldn't really count Lajoie (but that's just my opinion). I guess I should say the only active player in each set.

[gracecollector]

Carl Leonard Lundgren:

Two poses in T206, with Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Blues (Minor Leagues)



Lundy never in fact played with Kansas City. After a disappointing start to the 1909 season, he was placed on waivers by the Cubs. He was claimed by Brooklyn, only to be sold immediately to a team in the Eastern League. He decided to retire rather than report, and went home to his birthplace of Marengo, IL. Retirement was short lived though, and he signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Eastern League, making his debut on May 24, 1909. He went 1-3 with Toronto and left the team in June. The Leafs sold his rights to the Kansas City Blues, but he never reported to the team. Thus we can ascertain the second pose card was printed around the end of June, early July of 1909. As collectors know, the Chicago card is much scarcer.

Carl's nickname was "The Human Icicle" because he pitched best at the start of the season, when the weather was cold in Chicago. He declined as the season wore on, and was left off the 1907 Cubs World Series squad despite having a 1.17 ERA and 18 regular season wins.

Carl went on to a successful coaching career with the University of Michigan and later University of Illinois, winning several Big Ten championships.

[xplainer]

Excellent. This thread keeps getting better and better.
I can't be the only one enjoying the stories behind the cards.

Thanks for the stories.

Give us more!!

[Runscott]

Dan McGann - my 1st T206 card

from his SABR Bio, his career and tragic death:

Dan McGann's career closely paralleled that of John McGraw, his teammate, friend, and drinking companion in Baltimore, St. Louis, and particularly New York, where the 6'0", 190 lb. switch hitter was a key member of the 1904-05 Giants that McGraw considered his greatest squad. Some regarded McGann in his prime as the National League's finest first baseman; he batted .292 and averaged 71 RBI and 29 stolen bases in his first eight full seasons, led the NL in being hit by pitches six times and in sacrifice bunts once, and placed second in total bases and on-base percentage twice, but he received even more attention for leading NL first basemen in fielding percentage six times from 1899 to 1906. As his career went into eclipse, however, the big first baseman feuded with McGraw and increasingly brooded over his family history of death and violence, eventually taking his own life in 1910 at the age of 38.

On the night of December 13, 1910, McGann was found dead in his room in Besler's Hotel in Louisville, with a bullet in his chest and a revolver in his hand. The coroner ruled his death a suicide. Indeed, McGann was said to be preoccupied with the tragic deaths of several close family members. In 1909 one of his brothers had taken his own life. The previous New Year's Eve, another brother had died due to an infection resulting from an accidental shooting. McGann's sister committed suicide in 1890 following the death of their mother. Despite that unfortunate family history, McGann's two surviving sisters believed that he'd been murdered. Missing from his hand was a diamond ring worth $800, which witnesses had noticed McGann wearing when he was last seen alive, but a diamond pin, $37 in cash, and a $1,000 promissory note were still on his body when it was found.

[Runscott]

Mike Powers, my other favorite T206 tragedy.

from his WIKI bio:

On April 12, 1909, Powers was injured during the first game played in Philadelphia's Shibe Park, crashing into a wall while chasing a foul pop-up. He sustained internal injuries from the collision and died two weeks later from complications from three intestinal surgeries, becoming possibly the first Major Leaguer to suffer an on-field injury that eventually led to his death (though Powers himself said that he had become ill as a result of eating a cheese sandwich before the game). The immediate cause of death was peritonitis arising from post-surgery infections.