Pre-war Non-HOFers Worth Collecting

[packs]

I'll just one single card of an otherwise forgotten man:

Art Whitney with Dog

[vansaad]

John Titus

[packs]

Also add Ray Chapman to the list. His cards are always expensive.

[abothebear]

How about Big Ed Konetchy, The Candy Kid.

Some quotes and stats from Wikipedia:

“While he was considered an above-average hitter (he batted over .300 four times) he was more known around the league for his supreme consistency, his never-faltering speed, and his high degree of defensive skill at first base.”
“By the end of 1920, he had surpassed 2000 career hits and was quite high on the all-time leaderboard (into the top 25).”
And some career highlights:
* Stole home twice on September 30, 1907 against Boston
* Broke up four no-hitters over the course of his career
* Hit two inside-the-park home runs against Brooklyn on August 5, 1912
* Picked up hits in 10 consecutive at bats in 1919, tying a record which would later be broken
* Led the league in total bases in 1915 (278)
* Made the Top 10 in the league in batting average six times (1909, 1910, 1912, 1915, 1919, 1920)
* Holds an MLB record with 4 consecutive seasons with 20 or more triples (1909-1912

Then there is this chestnut.
“In 1911, with the Cards only three games out of first place in early July, the team was involved in a train crash on its way from Philadelphia to Boston. 47 passengers were injured, while twelve died. None of the Cardinals were seriously injured, due to a pre-trip change in the location of their car to the rear of the train. Konetchy and Cards manager Roger Bresnahan led the rescue effort, carrying many passengers to safety, some of whom may have died. Despite posting their first winning season since 1901, the Cardinals never recovered from the incident, finishing a distant fifth; but Konetchy led the NL with 38 doubles, and his own team with six home runs and 88 RBIs.”

He probably gets less credit than he deserves because he played on poor teams. And though he was consistently near the top in many categories, was never the bright shining star at the very top.

[bobbvc]

Hans Lobert

[judsonhamlin]

I'll add Mike Tiernan from the NY teams of the 1880's and '90s

[packs]

So there's a card of somebody:

[ASF123]

Originally Posted by packs

I'll just one single card of an otherwise forgotten man:

Art Whitney with Dog

Forgotten dog, too.

[riggs336]

Moses Yellowhorse

[SD]

Wild Bill Donovan
Arlington Latham
Heine Zimmerman
Carl Mays
Tom Pratt
Art Develin
Elmer Flick
Elmer Smith
Sam Crawford
Harry Heilman
Sam Coveleski
Adolfo Luque
Jack Fournier
Johnny Allen
Bill Lee
Johnny Kling
Sherry Magee
Ed Reulbach
Shanty Hogan
Muddy Ruel

[Prince Hal]

I would add Wayne Terwillger, Hank Bauer and Ralph Houk. All served with distinction on WWII. I always marvel at the men who fought in the war and came home to play again.

[SD]

One blacklisted for the Blackbox scandal the other killed in ww2.

Originally Posted by Prince Hal

I would add Wayne Terwillger, Hank Bauer and Ralph Houk. All served with distinction on WWII. I always marvel at the men who fought in the war and came home to play again.

[tonyo]

this isn't stat or career based, but when I was putting together a pre-war type collection, I targeted Hall of Famers OR players who were featured in The Glory of Their Times

Jimmy Austin
Rube Bressler
Al Bridwell
Stan Coveleski
Sam Crawford
George Gibson
Goose Goslin
Hank Greenberg
Heinie Groh
Babe Herman
Harry Hooper
Davy Jones
Sad Sam Jones
Willie Kamm
Tommy Leach
Hans Lobert
Rube Marquard
Chief Meyers
Lefty O'Doul
Bob O'Farrell
Edd Roush
Fred Snodgrass
Specs Toporcer
Bill Wambsganss
Paul Waner
Joe Wood

[Exhibitman]

For PCL fans, Ox Eckhardt. Per Wikipedia:

Oscar George "Ox" Eckhardt (December 23, 1901 – April 22, 1951) was an outfielder for the Boston Braves and Brooklyn Dodgers. Eckhardt holds the known all-time professional baseball record for batting average, counting both major and minor league stats: .365 (Ty Cobb holds the major league record, .366, but Cobb's minor league average of .304 lowers his total professional-ball average to .364, second behind Eckhardt. Eckhardt hit .192 in the major leagues, but in just 52 at bats, so his known minor league average of .366 was lowered just one point.) In spite of his outstanding ability to hit for average, Eckhardt – a poor fielder who lacked much home run power – was never able to establish himself in the major leagues. In 1933, he hit .414 for the San Francisco Missions, which is still the PCL (Pacific Coast League) record. In 1935, he again won the PCL batting title, edging out 20-year-old Joe DiMaggio, .399 to .398. This finally earned him a slot on a major league club, the 1936 Brooklyn Dodgers, with a chance to win a job as a regular. But Eckhardt was 36 years old by then, was still a poor fielder with little power, and in ten starts hit just .182 in 44 at bats. He was sent back to the minors, never to return. Eckhardt also played halfback and quarterback for the Texas Longhorns, and professionally as a halfback in 11 games for the New York Giants of the National Football League.