Nice Burdick Story

[brian1961]

Thanks, Adam, that is sure a beautiful story.

As I reflect on what few memories I have of Mr. Burdick, I will always cherish what fellow pioneer collector Lionel Carter wrote of him: how he always strived to make sure the other guy got the best deal in a trade, and how in 1933, after receiving at least a dozen letters from frustrated and upset collectors over the matter they had not been able to find a number 106 in Goudey's huge baseball card set that year. So, Jeff Burdick wrote a scathing letter to the Goudey Gum Co. informing them it was against the law to purposely leave out (not print) a card from their stated, "This is one of a series of 240 Baseball Stars" printed on the backside of every card.

I cannot now recall all the detail Lionel Carter gave of what Mr. Burdick wrote, but he threatened legal action, as I faintly remember. As a result, Goudey duly printed a number 106, and it was of former all-time great, Nap Lajoie. The Goudey company mailed Mr. Burdick around 20 copies of the newly-printed # 106. Mr. Burdick in turn mailed a Nap Lajoie to each of the collectors who had written to Jeff complaining about the absence of any number 106---free of charge. One of the collectors who'd written Mr. Burdick was Lionel Carter.

As time marches on, there may be a few of you unaware of this true story of Jefferson Burdick.

A side story is why Goudey would choose to select Nap Lajoie to be their missing # 106. This was 1933, and Nap had played his last major league game in 1916! I thought about this, and I'm guessing that Goudey selected Nap Lajoie from their planned inclusion in their Sport Kings set. After all, if you look closely at Nap's card, there is an action drawing of a catcher tagging a sliding base runner out at home plate. This type of design was in keeping with Goudey's Sport King set, whereas their massive baseball card set was void of extraneous drawings and lines. I suppose the Goudey personnel assigned to make a # 106 IN A HURRY just grabbed the Lajoie drawing, then quickly wrote a suitable backside with the number 106. Just something to chew on......, but thanks to Mr. Burdick, we have a 1933 Goudey Baseball Stars number 106.

--- Brian Powell