My Collection of Players Associated with Quirky Triviaby Vvvergeer - 18 cards (Last updated on Apr 27, 2023) |
Especially when I'm buying vintage cards, where I'm likely to only buy one card from the set, I need some reason to buy one card over another. I go for Cubs, but I don't know any of the non-stars from each other. So how to decide? I do a little research and find the cards of guys with quirky trivia attached to them.
Here are the cards I bought almost exclusively because there is odd trivia connected to the player. There's plenty of great trivia connected to other card I have, but I bought many of those cards for other reasons.
As always, feel free to suggest others. I'll probably want to buy them.
11. 1940 Play Ball #30 Moe Berg
Oops. How could I forget to add this to this list?! I got this in January 2018. I can hardly begin to tell his story. The relatively new movie, "The Catcher was a Spy" covers a lot of it. He spied. He won the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He was brilliant. A lawyer. And he kinda went nuts for the end of his life.
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12. 1947-66 Exhibits (W461) #NNO Eddie Waitkus
So I don't even LIKE the Exhibits cards very much. No logos, no real information at all, really. No stats on the back. No nothing on the back. But I keep finding players that I want in that set. THIS guy grabbed me right away and this is his only accessible Cubs card.
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13. 1960 Topps #220 Billy Jurges
Discovered this guy when I was looking for 1936 World Wide Gum Cubs. Learned that he was shot three times by his showgirl girlfriend in 1932, who then planned to commit suicide. That story was maybe partly the inspiration for "The Natural." He wouldn't press charges and was back on the field in a few weeks. Later, his vote against an ex-Yankee getting a full share of playoff money led to the Yankees being quite hostile to the Cubs in the World Series, which might have contributed to the famous "called shot" by Babe Ruth.
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14. 1922 E120 American Caramel Series of 240 #NNO Marty Krug
Well, I discovered this set while playing on eBay, and didn't have any cards from it and didn't have any 1922 cards, so I went fishing the right card (Cub) to buy. And then I found Marty! He only played two years, ten years apart. But that's not the trivia. As a scout he rather famously declared that Ted Williams was too fragile to play baseball. He was, er, mistaken. |
15. 1911 T205 Gold Border #NNO Germany Schaefer
Mr. Schaefer makes two lists. Because he kills it in the wacky trivia department. He once stole first base. From second. You know, going the wrong way. That's illegal now.
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16. 1911 T205 Gold Border #NNO Lena Blackburne
1/23/18
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17. 1911 T205 Gold Border #NNO Hans Lobert
11/23/22
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18. 1911 T205 Gold Border #NNO George McBride
Well, I stalked this card for a long time. I don't have any T205s (my favorite set) with this color combo. But more importantly, Mr. McBride is the player with the lowest career batting average of anyone with over 5000 at bats. Which is fantastic. |
Comments
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I'm on it CAD, thanks. The use of different vintage cards is due to the fact that those are the cards I own. I'll add Arlie Latham when I get one of his cards. Still stalking a Max Flack, the other half of the double header trade. Might need a Quincy Trouppe. v3 | ||
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Thank you! Tough card to get, but I'd love one. | ||
How about Herman "Germany" Schaefer who actually is credited with stealing first base? On Aug. 4, 1911 he first stole second base, then ran back to first, then got caught in a rundown while trying to steal second again, his original intention so that his teammate on third could run for home. If you don't have a T204 Ramly it's an excuse to look for one. | ||
Thank you. Germany Schaefer was on my list. And about a week ago, I started stalking T204s. We’ll see what happens. | ||
Jack Warhop apparently served up Babe's first big leage round-tripper. His 1994 Conlon card does not mention that distinction, but does note some other interesting facts about his less-than-stellar pitching career. | ||
Just wondered what you thought about Eddie Gaedel. At 3ft 7in he was the shortest person to ever play. Also apparently due to its scarcity his autograph now sells for more that Babe Ruth`s. | ||
Reading about the Berg card, I can only assume you got a time machine for Christmas?!?! | ||
Good catch. I have corrected it. (I wish I got a time machine. Then these would all be mint.) | ||
After reading about his story I picked up a Rube Waddell card from Panini's Golden Age set last year. I'll pick up a Moe Berg at some point as well...I read his story, not in any sports publication but in a WWII publication. I'm content with a card not issued during their careers, just so long as they get added to my collection. | ||
Well, Bob Uecker played the announcer in Major League. Moonlight Graham, from Field of Dreams, was a real person. He probably doesn't have a card though. Curt Flood got the first hit in a major league regular season game in Canada. He also challenged the reserve clause. Wally Pipp was the Yankees first baseman before Gehrig's streak. Glenn Burke and Dusty Baker were the first high fivers in sports. Larry Doby was the first black player in the American League. Rick Monday was a Marine Corps Reservist who stopped protestors from burning a U.S. flag during a game. Bob Gibson played for the Harlem Globetrotters. Danny Ainge, Dave DeBusschere, Brian Jordan, Deion Sanders, and Bo Jackson all played major league baseball and at the top level in another sport. Mike Kekich and Fritz Peterson traded wives in 1973. | ||
Ron Blomberg was the first DH in Major League Baseball. | ||
On September 26, 1908 Cubs Pitcher Ed Reulbach pitches 2 shutout games. Only Major League player to ever have done it. |