I lucked out on being the only bidder on a lot of four matchbooks, and was able to get the lot for under $8. Considering this had one of the biggest stars in the set, it was a good deal.
First the three "commons". Wally Berger isn't really a common - he set the NL rookie record for home runs that Mark McGwire later broke, and was one of the top power hitters in the league throughout the early- and mid-1930s, before injuries limited his effectiveness. The other two had brief, undistinguished careers. For example, the writeup on DeSautels (not DeSautel - error card) says that he spent most of his time in the bullpen warming up pitchers.
The player selection in this set was uneven, some teams were represented far more than others. No Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Greenberg, etc. So Carl Hubbell is one of the biggest stars in the set, and I am very happy to add a playing days card of one of the greatest pitchers of all time. He was coming off of his record-breaking 1933 season, with a 1.66 ERA that was the lowest in 20 years. Just think, this card is so old he hadn't even had his famous All-Star Game heroics yet!
I love the last line in the writeup - "Carl is just plain poison to batters". In a bit of a coincidence, both Hubbell and Berger lived into their 80s and died nine days apart in November, 1988.
Hubbell probably tops Charlie Gehringer and Paul Waner as the biggest star in my matchbook card collection now. Certainly these are cheaper ways to get 1930s stars than Goudeys or Play Balls. The biggest stars remaining in the set are Mel Ott, Dizzy Dean, Frankie Frisch and Hack Wilson. Maybe some day I'll acquire some of those too.
I have some of these, they're neat. Well bought at only $8!
ReplyDeleteI really need to do something with that batch of these I bought a year or two ago. Maybe put them in a binder, not sure.
ReplyDeleteVery nice pickup. Not often you pick up a playing days card from the 30's of a hall of famer for under $10.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice too that Carl's image is unmarred.
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