The 1941 baseball season featured Ted Williams’ .400 season, Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak and the Dodger’s return to prominence, however an thrilling battle additionally formed up on the sweet counter. Three firms would produce retail units of baseball playing cards in the identical season, the final time it could occur till 1981.
The baseball playing cards and the businesses that produced them are fascinating. By means of the years, I’ve loved accumulating and studying concerning the 1941 points, a lot in order that I lately released a book on the topic. Whereas it’s at all times a thrill to amass a Williams, DiMaggio, Ott, or Greenberg, each participant has a singular story and listed here are three I discovered attention-grabbing.
1941 Play Ball Babe Dahlgren
The reply to the bar trivia “Who changed Lou Gehrig after his 2,130 consecutive recreation streak,” Babe Dahlgren went from being a bookkeeper for a plumbing provide firm to a beginning function with the Yankees by way of a meandering profession path that included stops within the Class D Arizona-Texas league and the San Francisco Seals earlier than the Boston Purple Sox bought his contract in 1934. He performed usually for the BoSox in 1935, hitting .263, belting 9 homers in 149 video games, and sterling fielding at first base however was displaced at first by Jimmie Foxx. He was bought by the Yankees and performed for the 1937 Newark Bears, one of many best minor league groups ever.
From 1938 to 1946, he would stick within the bigs and was a part of the 1939 World Championship Yankees and the 1943 All Star crew as a member of the Phillies, enjoying for a number of groups earlier than hanging it up in 1948.
What I discovered intriguing about Dahlgren was that his profession was derailed by rumors that he used marijuana, which appear to have no foundation actually. He voluntarily turned the primary participant to be drug-tested. His grandson’s e book, Rumor in Town, tells how Dahlgren’s profession was tarnished by claims of drug use.
1941 Goudey Hugh Mulcahy
Proper-hander Hugh Mulcahy was a workhorse on some fairly weak Phillies groups within the Nineteen Thirties and early 40s. His lopsided loss-to-win (8-18, 10-20, 9-16, 13-22) data earned him the nickname “Shedding Pitcher.”
His 12-9 file halfway by way of the 1940 season earned him a spot on the NL All Star squad, however later that yr, he reeled off a 12-game shedding streak, ending the yr with 13 wins for a crew that might win solely 49.
He missed 1941 by way of 1945 in navy service and earned a Bronze Star combating with the Military within the Pacific Theater. His 1941 Goudey card notes that he was the primary participant to be drafted by the U.S. Military.
1941 Double Play Johnny Mize
Though he’s a Corridor of Famer, I feel Johnny Mize is significantly underrated. Had he not missed three years to the battle, he could have topped 500 dwelling runs. He was at all times on profitable groups. And he normally was one of many high dwelling run hitters within the league whereas seldom placing out greater than 50 instances in a season and a perennial All Star and a part of 5 World Championship groups. Regardless of this, he needed to wait to be inducted by the Veterans Committee and by no means acquired greater than 50% of the author’s vote.
Mize was concerned in a lawsuit towards Gum Merchandise for the manufacturing of his 1941 Double Play card. Mize argued that the corporate didn’t have his consent to make use of his picture within the card set. The corporate insisted they purchased the picture from a information company that granted the rights. Although the case was finally dismissed, it was vital within the context of gamers’ rights over their picture and likeness and paved the way in which for future authorized selections and insurance policies that granted athletes extra management over their public picture, notably when it got here to endorsement offers. (John Racanelli wrote an exceptional article on the problem for SABR that may be discovered right here.)
Within the chase to finish a set or purchase a key card, it’s typically simple to miss the tales of the lesser recognized gamers. For me as a collector, I contemplate the 1941 units to be “relationship units” the place I didn’t simply get to know the playing cards but additionally the tales of the gamers on the playing cards which, for me, makes the journey extra rewarding.
Todd Marcum’s e book Baseball Cards at the Edge of War: 1941: The Games, The Gum, and The Glory is obtainable on Amazon. Relive an thrilling baseball season, discover the lads behind the three landmark units issued in 1941, and luxuriate in profiles of the gamers illustrated by full-color reproductions of the coveted playing cards that bore their likeness.
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