After a blended reception to its 1938 Horrors of Battle buying and selling card set, Jacob Bowman’s Gum, Inc. turned its consideration to sports activities playing cards with the discharge of its 1939 Play Ball baseball card set.
If the title Bowman sounds acquainted, it ought to…
After World Battle II, Bowman retired the Gum Inc. model and started producing sports activities playing cards once more below the Bowman model in 1948.
Since then, Bowman has been one of many largest manufacturers in sports activities playing cards.
However it began with 1939 Play Ball.
The primary of a trilogy of Play Ball units, the 2-1/2″ x 3-1/8″ playing cards featured black and white images surrounded by a thick border.
They might be easy in design, however they’re extensively thought of one of many final nice pre-Battle units.
And on this information, we’ll check out the 15 most respected.
Let’s bounce proper in!
1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Worth: $9,000
Ted Williams had the arrogance of a 20-year veteran earlier than his big-league debut in 1939.
His bravado was not misguided.
Months after working roughshod over the American Affiliation and profitable its Triple Crown, the 20-year-old proper fielder debuted at Yankee Stadium as a member of the hated Boston Crimson Sox.
Williams stood on the identical area as eleven fellow Corridor-of-Famers and by no means appeared any the wiser.
He went 1-for-4 in his April twentieth debut, bouncing a double off the proper area wall.
It was the primary 2,654 base knocks for the best hitter ever.
It was additionally the primary salvo of a fully wild rookie season.
Williams completed fourth within the AL MVP race for the second-place Sox, pacing the Majors in RBIs (144) whereas topping the Junior Circuit in complete bases (344).
Pitchers feared Williams, as evidenced by his twelve intentional walks.
And, for good motive: the Boston phenom hit .327 with a 1.045 OPS, the primary of seventeen consecutive .300/1.000 campaigns.
1939 Play Ball #26 Joe DiMaggio
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Worth: $4,250
The “Yankee Clipper” was unveiled in 1939.
It was additionally the 12 months of probably the most spellbinding MVP seasons in historical past.
Joe DiMaggio got here into the ’39 marketing campaign as a family title, having received three consecutive top-eight MVP finishes and a World Collection title in his first three MLB seasons.
12 months 4 was even higher.
Dubbed the “Clipper” by Yankees play-by-play man Arch McDonald in reference to the speedy, highly effective Pan-American airliner, DiMaggio was a revelation on the extent of the Ruths and Gehrigs of the world.
The 24-year-old heart fielder received his first of two straight batting titles with a .381 common.
Solely twelve different Large League gamers have matched that mark.
DiMaggio additionally tallied 30 house runs, 32 doubles, 108 runs, and 126 RBIs to stroll away together with his first of two MVP awards.
DiMaggio additionally left together with his fourth Collection ring after a powerful four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds.
He hit .313 with a homer, three runs, and three RBIs within the profitable effort.
1939 Play Ball #56 Hank Greenburg
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Worth: $400
The world underwent a major transformation between the 1938 and 1939 MLB seasons.
In 1938, the rise of Adolf Hitler was a distant concern for a lot of People.
By the conclusion of the 1939 marketing campaign, World Battle II was underway, and there was loads to worry.
For these of Jewish descent in the USA, the struggle was a heartwrenching one.
This included Detroit Tigers famous person Hank Greenberg, who admitted ignorance of Hitler’s machinations earlier than the beginning of the Battle.
As soon as all of it turned clear, Greenberg did his half as each a baseball superstar and a member of the Jewish group.
“As time glided by, I got here to really feel that if I, as a Jew, hit a house run, I used to be hitting one towards Hitler,” Greenberg mentioned.
Greenberg hit 33 for third-place Detroit in 1939, following up his MLB-best 58 the 12 months earlier than.
He’d go on to serve the nation on the finish of WWII, lacking the 1942 via 1944 baseball seasons.
1939 Play Ball #103 Moe Berg
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Worth: $350
The odyssey of Moe Berg is unattainable to sum up in such a brief area.
Berg could or could not have infiltrated Japanese soil to take very important photographs of the nation’s infrastructure for the CIA.
After his enjoying days, he was introduced into the Workplace of Strategic Companies and tasked with, amongst different issues, parachuting into Yugoslavia as a part of an intelligence operation.
Berg allegedly spoke twelve languages fluently and refused the Medal of Advantage as a result of he couldn’t inform his colleagues why he earned it.
He was fairly eccentric, and everybody had an oddball story about him.
He was additionally a awful hitter who someway sauntered via 15 Main League seasons.
A robust defensive backstop, Berg was nicely beneath substitute stage on the dish.
His ultimate season got here in 1939, ending a confounding MLB run that will or could not have been associated to his authorities ties.
It stays unclear, as many issues to do with Berg.
1939 Play Ball #51 Mel Ott
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Worth: $300
The New York Giants have been firmly on a downward development when Mel Ott was named group captain in 1939.
After three pennant wins in 5 seasons from 1933-37 and a 1933 Collection win, the Giants launched into a 13-year drought from 1938 via the 1950 marketing campaign.
Ott took over the sector captainship when Polo Grounds attendance was tanking and fan loyalty was wavering.
That is to not say that Ott was individually good.
The 30-year-old proper fielder and third baseman was named to his sixth consecutive All-Star Recreation in 1939 and led the AL in on-base proportion (.449) for the second straight season.
Ott broke the .300 barrier for the fifth time in six tries (.308) whereas posting 27 house runs, 80 RBIs, and 85 runs.
He additionally drew 100 walks for the fourth consecutive 12 months regardless of enjoying in simply 125 video games on account of damage.
Ott was molten scorching, even when the Giants weren’t.
1939 Play Ball #30 Invoice Dickey
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Worth: $215
Invoice Dickey did not have to hit to be probably the most helpful gamers within the Main Leagues.
He nonetheless did, although.
Dickey was the catching centerpiece of the Golden Period of New York Yankees baseball, carrying the masks for eight World Collection championships in his 17-year profession.
1939 was the sixth of these triumphs.
The six-time All-Star and sixth-place MVP finisher cracked the .300 mark for the tenth time in eleven campaigns (.302) whereas placing collectively a 20-homer/100 RBI effort (24/105) for the fourth 12 months in a row.
That is motive sufficient to place Dickey excessive up on the MVP poll.
Throw in his fame as the sport’s greatest pitch caller and defensive catcher, full with a league-best 571 put-outs and .989 fielding proportion, and the 32-year-old was indispensable.
This included through the Yankees’ ’39 Collection sweep of the Reds, through which Dickey posted a .989 OPS with two house runs and 5 RBIs.
1939 Play Ball #50 Charlie Gehringer
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Worth: $180
Charlie Gehringer is commonly forgotten amongst different Corridor-of-Famer headliners of the Twenties and Thirties.
It should not be that means.
The Detroit Tigers second baseman hit .300 in 13 of his first fifteen seasons, earned MVP votes in 13 straight years, and received an AL MVP (1937) and a World Collection title (1935).
Gehringer was the anchor that steadied the Detroit Tigers via lean and fruitful instances.
He was an enterprising businessman, a profitable businessman, and, by most accounts, a stand-up man.
Gehringer is a forgotten man amongst many baseball followers.
But, that may’t erase his cache of good campaigns, together with his 1937 outing.
The 36-year-old veteran posted a .325/.423/.544 slash line with 16 house runs, 29 doubles, six triples, 86 runs, and 86 RBIs in 118 video games.
He earned down-ballot MVP consideration regardless of lacking out on his first All-Star Recreation since 1932.
1939 Play Ball #53 Carl Hubbell
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Worth: $180
From a pre-sabermetric lens, Carl Hubbell’s 1939 season was simply one other step on a downward slope.
In an period the place wins and losses meant greater than something for a beginning pitcher, the New York Giants lefty went from a league chief to 2 video games over the .500 mark.
Such a slim view of Hubbell’s excellent marketing campaign is a disservice.
The fifth-place Giants have been a non-factor within the 1939 pennant race, ending simply three video games above .500.
Hubbell accounted for 2 of these three at 11-9.
The 36-year-old pitched to a 2.75 ERA in 29 begins with 10 full video games.
He completed 44% over substitute stage by way of OPS+ and pitched to an elite 1.130 WHIP.
He was restricted to 154.0 innings on account of numerous illnesses, however these frames have been award-caliber.
Hubbell’s fall from grace began in 1940, with 1939 being the ultimate nice 12 months of his Cooperstown run.
1939 Play Ball #7 Bobby Doerr
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Worth: $150
After a mediocre rookie season in 1938, you’d suppose Bobby Doerr would have labored via the winter towards a greater 12 months in 1939.
As a substitute, Doerr took a five-month trip to maintain his thoughts proper and his physique rested.
“I by no means did work within the offseason, and I by no means did play winter ball or anything,” Doerr mentioned “I believe it was good for me to get away after a full season.”
Whereas different gamers wanted to work out and keep recent on the diamond, Doerr was a pure expertise who let it fly and let or not it’s.
You possibly can’t argue with the outcomes.
After posting a sub-replacement 86 OPS+ in ’38, the 20-year-old second baseman took step one in direction of stardom with a 104 sophomore effort.
The Boston Crimson Sox wunderkind posted a .813 OPS with 12 house runs, 28 doubles, two triples, 75 runs, and 73 RBIs in 127 video games.
His .318 common stands because the second-best of his Cooperstown profession.
1939 Play Ball #48 Lefty Gomez
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Worth: $140
Lefty Gomez’s profession was by no means the identical after the 1939 MLB season.
Coming into the marketing campaign as a multi-time All-Star and two-time pitching Triple Crown winner, the legendary New York Yankees lefty was on the high of his Corridor-of-Fame powers.
That modified on Could tenth.
Gomez was flattened on a routine cowl of first and injured his again.
He missed one sport and reeled off 5 straight wins, easing right into a seventh Midsummer Traditional look.
The 30-year-old remained atop the listing of the sport’s greatest hurlers, without end.
Nevertheless, Gomez’s again downside had ramifications that stained the remainder of his enjoying days.
The problems lingered for years, forcing him to unconsciously shift his pitching method.
This finally led to some nasty arm points and a painful march towards retirement.
Gomez concluded his ultimate All-Star 12 months at 12-8 with a 3.41 ERA.
He pitched only one inning within the ’39 World Collection, surrendering three hits and a run.
1939 Play Ball #6 Leo Durocher
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Worth: $100
Leo Durocher was by no means a superb hitter.
The truth is, he was by no means even a replacement-level hitter.
Durocher posted a profession OPS+ of 66 over seventeen Large League seasons.
He offered 2/3 of the manufacturing of his contemporaries and managed simply 24 house runs in 5,829 plate appearances.
As gentle as his bat was, the longer term Corridor-of-Fame supervisor made up for it with a bevy of spectacular performs on the six.
In 1939, Durocher was in 12 months 13 of his profession and 12 months 2 of his time with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
It was a superb marketing campaign through which the 33-year-old posted profession bests in OPS (.695) and OPS+ (83).
His .957 fielding proportion and 25 errors do not fairly maintain up, however the eye take a look at at shortstop was loads sufficient to earn him recognition as a top-ten MVP finisher.
It was the final impactful season of Durocher’s enjoying profession.
He performed 116 video games in ’39 and appeared in simply 88 extra contests general on account of damage and advancing age.
1939 Play Ball #55 Arky Vaughan
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Worth: $100
Arky Vaughan was a poor fielder for many of his Corridor-of-Fame profession.
His bat absolved any blame.
Vaughan made eight All-Star groups as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates and received a batting title in 1935.
He was by no means a house run hitter of be aware, and his errors have been loads, but Vaughn used his velocity and candy swing to cancel that every one out.
Coming off a top-three MVP placement and a slim pennant miss in 1938, Vaughan noticed a drop-off in general manufacturing.
His .306 batting common stood as a brand new career-worst, coinciding with Pittsburgh’s freefall to the decrease class of the Nationwide League.
Vaughan was nonetheless fairly a risk, although.
Named to his sixth All-Star group, the Cooperstown legend posted double-digit triples (11) for the seventh time in eight Large League seasons.
He added 30 doubles, six homers, 12 stolen bases, 70 walks, 94 runs, and 62 RBIs in 152 video games for the sixth-place Pirates.
1939 Play Ball #89 Lloyd Waner
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Worth: $100
Lloyd Waner’s greatest likelihood at a World Collection title slipped via his fingers in 1938.
The air leaked from the tires from then on.
Moreover a four-and-out Collection look in 1927, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been an NL also-ran all through Waner’s Cooperstown profession.
The bitter style of his October debut lingered for a decade and was solely worsened by a handful of second-place pennant finishes.
The worst of those runner-up runs got here in 1938.
Pittsburgh held a two-game lead on the Chicago Cubs with per week to play earlier than dropping six of seven to lose the pennant.
A primary-time All-Star in ’38, Waner posted a sterling .992 fielding proportion in heart throughout his follow-up marketing campaign.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t sufficient to paper over his hitting decline from a 104 OPS+ to 79.
Wanner performed in 112 video games for the abruptly terrible Pirates and performed not more than 102 within the half-decade to comply with.
1939 Play Ball #143 Earl Averill
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Worth: $100
Earl Averill was five-foot-nine of pure hitting prowess.
The diminutive heart fielder notched six All-Star appearances and three top-four MVP nods over a decade-plus with a so-so Cleveland Indians squad.
He hit .322 with the Tribe from 1929-39, together with a .378 mark through the 1937 marketing campaign.
By the center of the ’39 season, issues have been winding to a detailed.
Averill’s age and listing of bumps and bruises made him expendable.
The Indians desperately wanted pitching and used the 37-year-old Averill as commerce bait to get their man, dealing the Corridor-of-Famer to Detroit on June 14th for lefty Harry Eisenstat.
Averill slashed a career-worst .264/.353/.464 in 111 video games between the Indians and Tigers with 11 house runs, 28 doubles, six triples, 66 runs, and 65 RBIs.
He transitioned to a platoon position in 1940 and helped to raise the Tigers to inside one win of a World Collection championship.
1939 Play Ball #3 Crimson Ruffing
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Worth: $100
Crimson Ruffing was a savvy baseball businessman.
Ruffing went from a internet detrimental with the Boston Crimson Sox within the late Twenties to a front-of-the-rotation drive for the juggernaut Yankees of the 30s.
Because the dynasty introduced house title after title, the Corridor-of-Famer turned one of many sport’s most dominant beginning pitchers.
If anyone knew how helpful Ruffing was, it was him.
He always held out for extra money, incomes himself common raises en path to a $28,000 wage in 1939.
Solely the good Lou Gehrig was paid greater than him.
The Yankees acquired their cash’s value.
Now a three-time All-Star, Ruffing went 21-7 with a glowing 2.93 ERA.
He led all AL starters with 5 shutouts on his technique to fifth place within the AL MVP race.
Ruffing topped off his stellar 12 months with a one-run, four-hit full sport win in Recreation 1 of the World Collection.
The Yankees rode the momentum to a four-game sweep of the Reds and a fourth straight championship.
1939 Play Ball Baseball Playing cards In Evaluation
Given it accommodates the Ted Williams rookie card and plenty of different big-name Corridor of Famers whereas being one of many final nice pre-Battle units, it is onerous to say something detrimental about 1939 Play Ball.
Maybe the one downside is that a number of the most recognizable Corridor of Famers of the day, like Lou Gehrig, Bob Feller, Johnny Mize, Luke Appling, Joe Cronin, and Ernie Lombardi, are lacking.
Which will have been intentional, although, fairly than by mistake.
On the backside of the reverse aspect of each card on this set is a brief blurb stating, “That is one in all a sequence of 250 footage of main baseball gamers.”
But, the guidelines solely accommodates 161 playing cards.
It might be that Gehrig, Feller, and people different huge names
have been a part of a guidelines initially deliberate to be 250 playing cards in measurement.
However, for some unknown motive, Bowman determined to shorten the guidelines, and people guys did not make the minimize.
Regardless of these omissions, this set’s significance can’t be understated.
The 1939-1941 Play Ball units have been the final major hyperlinks between the Goudey playing cards of the early-mid 30s and the Bowman and Leaf units of the late 40s.
Trending Merchandise
