For the third installment of their trilogy of baseball card units, Gum, Inc. made one apparent improve to the 1941 Play Ball set:
full-color art work.
Not like the black and white designs of the ’39 and ’40 Play Ball units, the cardboard fronts in ’41 Play Ball function superbly designed poses, portraits, and motion photographs with a contact of Artwork Deco styling.
Different delicate adjustments included changes to the textual content on the reverse facet and a smaller 72-card guidelines.
Nevertheless, the colorized fronts will all the time be the best method to distinguish the ’41 Play Ball set from the others.
For that motive alone, most collectors level to this one as their favourite Play Ball set.
And on this information, we’ll check out the 15 most beneficial.
Let’s soar proper in!
1941 Play Ball #71 Joe DiMaggio
Estimated PSA 5 EX Worth: $6,500
Any time a hitter will get a whiff of a 25-game or 30-game hit streak, Joe DiMaggio’s identify is inevitably on everybody’s thoughts.
And inevitably, the participant’s streak ends, and DiMaggio’s holy quantity stays unchallenged.
The “Yankee Clipper” captured everybody’s consideration and creativeness in 1941, with 56 consecutive video games of hitting nirvana.
Because the New York Yankees heart fielder rocketed previous George Sisler’s modern-day report (41) and Wee Willie Keeler’s all-time mark (44), it by no means felt like it could finish.
It will definitely did, however the streak lives on eternally, in spotlight packages, on elementary baseball diamonds, in all places.
DiMaggio hitched the Yankees to his bat for over two wonderful months, pushing them from the center of the AL pack to a pennant and a fifth World Collection title in six years.
He took residence league MVP for a second time with a .357 common, 30 residence runs, and MLB bests in RBIs (125) and whole bases (348).
1941 Play Ball #14 Ted Williams
Estimated PSA 5 EX Worth: $3,000
“56” is not the one quantity that outlined the 1941 MLB season.
In 1940, Ted Williams was a pariah.
Boston followers both beloved him or hated him, and a author focused the sophomore outfielder for a perceived “holier-than-thou” angle.
Quick-forward to 1941, and all was forgotten.
The 22-year-old pure hit .406 for the marketing campaign, turning into the primary American League hitter in 19 years to crack the .400 mark.
He additionally reached base 55.3% of the time, a peerless efficiency within the twentieth Century.
The haters nonetheless discovered methods to take potshots at Williams.
However they rang hole once you noticed simply how good the child actually was.
Ending second within the MVP race to Joe Dimaggio and his hit streak, Williams was arguably the higher hitter.
Along with his batting title and on-base prowess, the Corridor-of-Famer topped the Majors in residence runs (37), runs (135), walks (147), and OPS (1.287), amongst different classes.
1941 Play Ball #54 Pee Wee Reese Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 5 EX Worth: $1,500
An damage minimize Pee Wee Reese’s exceptional rookie marketing campaign quick.
It additionally solid a pall on his sophomore exhibiting.
On August fifteenth, 1940, the younger Brooklyn Dodgers shortstop broke a bone in his left heel on an out-of-control slide into second base.
His teammates carried him off the sector in a bitter finish to a incredible debut 12 months.
Reese’s heel damage was a satan to rehab.
Initially of the 1941 marketing campaign, he remained saddled with an ankle brace to maintain his foot from bending or planting awkwardly.
Even when he took off the brace, Reese did not look comfy.
His batting common dropped sharply from .272 to .229, and his slugging proportion dipped beneath .300 (.294) for the one time till his ultimate 12 months in Brooklyn.
Reese had no energy and no confidence in his shaky left foot.
Even the franchise’s first NL pennant in 21 years could not alleviate the frustration of a misplaced sophomore season.
1941 Play Ball #13 Jimmie Foxx
Estimated PSA 5 EX Worth: $700
1941 was the tip of Jimmie Foxx’s greatest days on the diamond.
It was additionally one of many worst years of his life.
Together with his marriage failing and headed for divorce, the 33-year-old first baseman doubled down on his ingesting habits.
He remained a sort face between the traces, but his off-field struggles weighed closely.
Foxx’s relationship with participant/supervisor Joe Cronin was additionally a supply of stress.
The 2 by no means actually acquired alongside within the clubhouse, and issues solely acquired worse because the marketing campaign progressed.
A minimum of Double X might nonetheless hit.
The 17-year-old veteran made his ninth consecutive All-Star crew with a .300/.412/.505 slash line, 19 residence runs, 27 doubles, eight triples, 93 walks, 87 runs, and 105 RBIs in 135 video games.
That was the tip of Foxx’s greatest days.
The Corridor-of-Famer was bought to the Cubs early within the 1942 season and light into retirement by the tip of 1945.
1941 Play Ball #18 Hank Greenberg
Estimated PSA 5 EX Worth: $575
Hank Greenberg had larger issues on his thoughts than baseball in 1941.
With World Struggle II amping up into its most threatening phases, the reigning MVP was drafted into the Military in early Might.
Greenberg went out in type, hammering two homers in his Might sixth farewell.
After simply 19 video games, the 30-year-old Detroit Tigers left fielder headed to Fort Custer, Michigan, to coach for service.
As for hundreds of others, the fact of struggle started to settle in.
Three months later, it appeared he’d be again in a Tigers uniform a lot ahead of anticipated.
The US handed a legislation that exempted males 28 or older from the draft.
Greenberg readied for a 1942 MLB return.
After which Pearl Harbor occurred.
Horrified by the occasions of that December day, the Corridor-of-Famer enlisted and dutifully ready for deployment.
“We’re in bother, and there is just one factor to do,” Greenberg mentioned. “Return to service.”
1941 Play Ball #8 Mel Ott
Estimated PSA 5 EX Worth: $450
Mel Ott had a predictably potent 12 months on the plate in 1941.
It is what occurred after the season that was surprising.
Whereas the 32-year-old New York Giants proper fielder slipped barely from his athletic peak, he was nonetheless one of many sport’s prime hitters, slashing .286/.403/.495 with 27 residence runs, 100 walks, 89 runs, and 90 RBIs.
Because it went for years, Ott shined brightest on an in any other case boring Giants squad.
Within the winter of 1941, Ott’s position with the crew shifted dramatically.
On the Winter Conferences, good friend and supervisor Invoice Terry referred to as it quits.
Readying for a brand new life at his Florida residence, Terry spent no time selecting his successor.
Already the Giants’ discipline captain, Ott was rapidly given the reins as participant/supervisor.
“Hiya, Supervisor,” Giants president Horace Stoneham mentioned when presenting Ott with the provide. “I’ve a brand new job for you at more cash.”
Ott took the gig and remained within the position for seven seasons.
1941 Play Ball #72 Lefty Gomez
Estimated PSA 5 EX Worth: $300
Lefty Gomez took a figurative slap to the face in 1941.
It damage so dangerous that he by no means talked about it once more.
Gomez was the All-Star coronary heart of the New York Yankees rotation within the Thirties, serving to pitch the Pinstripes to 5 Collection wins (six altogether).
He was a seven-time All-Star, a two-time ERA champ, and a two-time Triple Crown winner.
Lefty was the Yankees.
That’s, till the Forties.
Gomez appeared in simply 9 video games in 1940 as a consequence of damage and appeared nothing like his former self.
Yankees administration shopped him to the Brooklyn Dodgers within the offseason, solely to rethink at Gomez’s behest.
Lefty rewarded them with a powerful effort in ’41, ending 15-5 with a 3.74 ERA in 23 begins.
Anticipating to take the ball within the Yankees’ five-game Collection win, Gomez was omitted of the Fall Basic altogether.
It was a gut-wrenching second for the 32-year-old and an indication of issues to return.
1941 Play Ball #6 Carl Hubbell
Estimated PSA 5 EX Worth: $275
King Carl Hubbell wasn’t fairly royal in 1941.
He was nonetheless efficient, nonetheless.
A winner of two NL MVP awards, three ERA titles, and a World Collection championship within the Thirties, Hubbell was the wily veteran for the 1941 Giants.
He nonetheless had loads of zip to catch hitters flat-footed, however he was additionally a lot simpler to sq. up than ever earlier than.
Hubbell completed 11-9 for the 12 months with a 3.57 ERA.
He made 26 appearances (22 begins) with 11 full video games and a shutout.
These are positive numbers with out context, but an additional look reveals how far Hubbell had fallen.
The 38-year-old gave up 169 hits and 53 walks in 164.0 innings, calculating out to a brand new career-worst 1.354 WHIP.
His 104 ERA+ stands barely above league common, not like his league-best 193 eight years earlier than.
After a decade of ruling the sport, The King had lastly surrendered his throne.
1941 Play Ball #64 Bobby Doerr
Estimated PSA 5 EX Worth: $275
1941 was the second that Bobby Doerr turned a perennial All-Star.
It additionally catalyzed his evolution into the sport’s greatest defensive second baseman.
Already often known as one of many Majors’ slicker fielders, Doerr struggled a bit on routine grounders in 1941.
He dedicated 20 errors in 699 possibilities, versus 21 in 902 possibilities the 12 months earlier than.
The 23-year-old was nonetheless dazzled along with his athleticism and vary within the gap, however the numbers remained the numbers.
Regardless, Doerr was named to the All-Star Sport for the primary of 9 instances.
He hit .282 on the 12 months with 16 residence runs, 28 doubles, 74 runs, and 93 RBIs in 132 video games.
Even when his numbers weren’t the best per se, Doerr was nonetheless extraordinarily gifted.
Regardless of by no means taking part in winter ball and barely training in the course of the offseason, the long run Corridor-of-Famer recognized his defensive deficiencies and dropped his errors into the only digits by 1943.
1941 Play Ball #19 Charley Gehringer
Estimated PSA 5 EX Worth: $250
1941 was the final time we noticed Charlie Gehringer as an on-field common.
A 12 months after the Detroit Tigers took the AL pennant, the 38-year-old Gehringer confirmed the consequences of over a half-decade {of professional} ball.
After 13 .300 seasons in fourteen years, an MVP, and a batting title, Gehringer noticed his common dip to .220 in 127 video games, his worst, by far, as a full-time participant.
He additionally set profession worsts in on-base proportion (.363), slugging (.303), and OPS+ (71).
The ability wasn’t there anymore, and neither have been the fast arms.
Oddly sufficient, they weren’t gone for good.
After retiring as a participant/coach in 1942, Gehringer enlisted within the US Navy and have become a baseball coach in service.
He was discharged three years later and briefly thought-about one other run.
“I got here out of the service in such fine condition, I felt I might’ve performed just a few years,” Gehringer mentioned. “I made a decision to stay with what I acquired, so I retired.”
1941 Play Ball #70 Invoice Dickey
Estimated PSA 5 EX Worth: $250
Invoice Dickey towered over the American League for years.
Dickey, a six-foot-one catcher with sneaky pop, manned the plate for seven of the New York Yankees’ 27 World Collection championships.
In 1941, Dickey was a a lot completely different participant.
Nearing the tip of his Corridor-of-Fame profession, the 34-year-old needed to relaxation recurrently to maintain his physique so as.
That is to not say that Dickey wasn’t in nice kind.
He as soon as once more led the AL in fielding (.994) and orchestrated an early-season 21-game hitting streak.
Dickey wasn’t swinging for the fences like he used to (7 homers in 397 at-bats), however his .284 common and 71 RBIs proved his price to the Yankee order.
Dickey picked up his eighth All-Star choice and a few down-ballot MVP consideration for his ’41 efforts.
He additionally picked up one other ring because the Yankees disposed of the rival Dodgers in a five-game Fall Basic triumph.
1941 Play Ball #63 Dom DiMaggio
Estimated PSA 5 EX Worth: $225
It was all DiMaggio on a regular basis in 1941.
The three DiMaggio brothers have been peas in a baseball pod.
All three have been beginning heart fielders in 1941: Joe within the Bronx, Vince in Pittsburgh, and Dom in Boston.
The eldest, Vince, had a positive breakout 12 months for the Pirates, garnering a smattering of down-ballot MVP votes.
The center baby, Joe, wove “56” into the material of the sport on his method to AL’s Most Worthwhile Participant.
The youngest, Dom, was additionally fairly good.
Now locked into heart at Fenway, the 24-year-old Purple Sox sophomore reached All-Star standing for the primary time, slashing .283/.385/.408 with eight homers, 37 doubles, six triples, 90 walks, and 117 runs scored in 144 video games.
Dom additionally labored up some Midsummer Basic magic, singling residence Joe to the delight of the Detroit crowd.
His brother might have commanded the limelight, however Dom was no slouch both.
1941 Play Ball #60 Chuck Klein
Estimated PSA 5 EX Worth: $175
Within the early Thirties, Chuck Klein stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the most effective hitters alive.
He completed prime two for NL MVP in three consecutive seasons from 1931 to 1933, profitable the award in 1932.
Klein’s ascent to the top of baseball was a fast one.
His fall down the ladder was so much slower.
The slugging outfielder made simply two journeys to the Midsummer Basic, with 1934 being the final.
He was nonetheless a really productive hitter for the remainder of the last decade, albeit one left beneath the radar.
As quickly because the Forties got here round, Klein was at a a lot much less impactful level in his profession.
And by 1941, he was a pinch-hitter with a unfastened interpretation of the time period “hitter.”
Klein hit the underside of the barrel in 84 plate appearances for the ’41, hitting simply .123.
He’d make simply 41 extra PAs within the subsequent three years, and issues would solely worsen.
1941 Play Ball #15 Joe Cronin
Estimated PSA 5 EX Worth: $150
Joe Cronin was a beloved member of the Boston group, a stand-up man appreciated by almost everybody he met.
Cronin was named participant/supervisor of the Purple Sox upon arriving on the crew in 1935 and remained within the chair for 13 years.
He spent eleven of them as an lively participant, with six of these campaigns yielding All-Star outcomes.
The 1941 marketing campaign served as Cronin’s final season within the Midsummer highlight.
Ending eleventh within the AL MVP race, the 34-year-old shortstop/third baseman slashed .311/.406/.508, the second .300/.400/.500 season of his Corridor-of-Fame profession.
He additionally added 16 residence runs, 38 doubles, eight triples, 82 walks, 98 runs, 95 RBIs, and a league-best 14 sacrifice bunts in 143 video games.
Below Cronin’s management, the Purple Sox completed second within the American League at 84-70-1.
Sure, they landed 17 video games behind the pennant and Collection-winning Yankees.
Nevertheless, in addition they joined the Bombers as the one two groups within the Junior Circuit with a profitable report.
1941 Play Ball #20 Purple Ruffing
Estimated PSA 5 EX Worth: $150
You possibly can all the time rely on Purple Ruffing within the clutch.
After mucking about with the Boston Purple Sox to finish the Twenties, Ruffing landed with the New York Yankees early within the 1930 marketing campaign and by no means appeared again.
The Corridor-of-Famer instantly emerged as a rotation stalwart for the Pinstripe dynasty earlier than turning into an All-Star and MVP candidate in 1938.
Ruffing’s elite fame had a lot to do along with his efficiency beneath the brightest lights.
The veteran righty entered the 1941 World Collection with a 5-1 October report, with all however considered one of his seven begins going the space.
Begin #8 was yet one more Basic gem.
Given the ball for Sport 1 in opposition to the Dodgers, Ruffing gave up simply two runs (one earned) in a complete-game win.
It was yet one more tone-setting Collection win for the Yankees ace and one which acquired the ball rolling towards a fifth title in six years.
1941 Play Ball Baseball Playing cards In Evaluation
As you may see, the attention enchantment of this set alone makes it one of the crucial attention-grabbing designs of the later pre-Struggle period.
Gum, Inc. additionally simplified the nameplate design in comparison with the 1940 Play Ball set by abandoning the glove, bat, ball and different design parts.
Nevertheless, one “quirk” I’ve all the time discovered attention-grabbing is how the corporate went out of its method to put most of the gamers’ shortened names into quotes.
For instance, “Pee Wee” Reese, “Lefty” Gomez and “Purple” Ruffing do not stand out all that a lot, given these have been their nicknames.
Nevertheless, utilizing quotations for “Joe” DiMaggio since his full identify was Joseph DiMaggio or “Ted” Williams as his full identify was “Theodore” Williams all the time struck me as amusing.
Solely when a participant’s precise full identify was used, like Carl Hubbell, have been there no quotations.
Not an enormous deal.
However it’s noticeable, nonetheless.
As for the guidelines itself, the run of 72 playing cards did not depart a lot room to make a huge effect.
However there are tons of big-name stars and Corridor of Famers inside.
The Pee Wee Reese rookie card is a large draw for collectors, although it nonetheless performs third wheel to the Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams playing cards.
Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, Mel Ott, and several other different icons assist spherical out the compact but potent guidelines.
As the USA turned its consideration to the efforts in World Struggle II, the manufacturing of baseball playing cards turned understandably de-prioritized.
For that motive, this set will all the time stand out as one of many final nice pre-Struggle units in pastime historical past.
Trending Merchandise
