1930's Cincinnati Premium Picture "card" and the Tragedy of Benny Frey

Leon · #1 10-25-2009, 05:53 PM

I think this can be loosely called a card (below) but might be more of a picture. Regardless of that it fits in with my genre of collecting. I got it from our well respected board member Tim N, so of course I could go back to ole Tim (hi Tim) and ask this question, but then I couldn't show and tell

.
First off is this "card" of Benny Frey? It looks like the signature says Donnie Frey?

It doesn't matter a lot to me as I just wanted it as a type. Does Benny Frey have any other cards of him? There is an interesting and tragic story of this former major leaguer that was 16th in voting for the MVP in 1934....This excerpt is borrowed from our friends at Wiki, with the newly acquired "photocard" following:

Benjamin Rudolph Frey (April 6, 1906 - November 1, 1937) was a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1929-37, playing primarily with the Cincinnati Reds. Born in Dexter, Michigan, Frey played in 256 major league baseball games (127 as a starter) and had a lifetime record of 57-82 in 1160 innings pitched. He was a sidearm pitcher with a sweeping motion that was effective with right-handed hitters. His lifetime earned run average of 4.50 was good for an Adjusted ERA+ of 90. In 1930, Frey lost 18 games, tops in the National League. His best season was 1934 when he was 11-16 for the Reds with a 3.52 ERA (Adjusted ERA+ of 116). Frey placed #16 in the 1934 National League Most Valuable Player voting.
Frey suffered an arm injury and was sent down to a minor league team in Nashville for the 1937 after eight years in the majors. Frey refused to report to Nashville and asked to be put on the voluntarily retired list. Frey committed suicide that November at age 31 in Spring Arbor Township, Michigan. Frey died from carbon monoxide after running a hose from his car. (Edward J. Rielly, "Baseball and American Culture: Across the Diamond" (2003), p. 274.)^[1]^[2]

Rich Klein · #2 10-25-2009, 06:01 PM

For what it is worth is a question is this "Lonny Frey"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonny_Frey

He played for Cincy in the 1930's as well and I'd check out good old Lonny as well

Regards
Rich

Leon · #3 10-25-2009, 06:06 PM

I didn't even check for it to be Lonny

. It's not like it says it on the card or anything.....So, thanks for that clarifictation and I now know who the player is on that card.

But while checking on this I did read about the trajedy of "Benny" Frey. Are there any cards of him....any reference material etc...? Thanks again!!

edited to add that I guess I just did hear about Lonny passing away at the ripe young age of 99, only a month ago....

Chris-Counts · #4 10-25-2009, 06:26 PM

Here's a thread from this forum about Lonny, who passed away just a month ago ...

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...highlight=frey

rhettyeakley · #5 10-25-2009, 06:27 PM

Leon, the item is definitely Lonny Frey, but I have also wondered if these are really "cards" or not. I sold a collection of 8-10 or so of these to Tim around 1-2 years ago, and I know that Tim already had several from the "set" previous to that as well.
-Rhett

FrankWakefield · #6 10-25-2009, 07:53 PM

I agree with Rhett, that's Lonny Frey. He's also on some Goudeys, Playballs, and Double Plays.

Benjamin Frey is on a Conlon card from the early 90s. I am not aware of a card of his contemporary with his playing days. His is a story worthy of being known, and remembered.

whitehse · #7 10-25-2009, 08:02 PM

I believe the odd thing is that I was watching the Antiques Roadshow a few weeks ago and Lonnie Frey's son was on there with some of his memorabilia from Frey's playing days. It was pretty interesting to see!