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My 11th ’35 Goudey: Four Dodgers

Dave Farquhar Baseball February 1, 2015January 18, 2015Burleigh Grimes, Goudey, New York

Like my 10th card, my 11th card was also an Ebay win. It featured four Dodgers players. It’s a common card, with no Hall of Famers, but all of the players were starters for the Dodgers–no filling up space with utility infielders or middle relievers on this card, at least. A Dodgers fan unwrapping this card in 1935 wouldn’t have been too disappointed.

And even though there are no Hall of Famers on the card, there are some interesting stories here. Two of the players were once traded for each other before becoming teammates, and one of the players was the oldest surviving player to play for all three New York teams when he died at the age of 99.

My 10th ’35 Goudey: Ted Lyons and Mule Haas

Dave Farquhar Baseball January 31, 2015January 18, 2015Chicago White Sox, Connie Mack, Goudey, Major League, Major League Baseball, Marine Corps, National League, Philadelphia Athletics

Once I’d drained my local supply of 1935 Goudeys, I turned to Ebay. To keep some sport in it and keep costs down a bit, initially I decided to limit myself to auction listings rather than buy-it-nows.

The first time I looked, I could have bought every ’35 I lacked, spare one, via buy-it-now, and the one I couldn’t find wasn’t an expensive card. To me, that’s not really collecting. Collecting ought to involve some chase, and waiting an extra week for a com

So, in that spirit, I bid on a 1935 card featuring four Chicago White Sox one Sunday evening, and won.

My seventh 1935 Goudey: Four Beleaguered Braves

Dave Farquhar Baseball January 25, 2015January 12, 2015Babe Ruth, Bill Terry, Boston Braves, Burleigh Grimes, cardinals, Carl Hubbell, Goudey

The fourth and final ’35 I bought (so far I hope) from Dugout in Webster Groves featured four men who had the misfortune of suffering through the entire Boston Braves 1935 season. All are rather obscure and information about of them was difficult to come by.

“I had a Babe Ruth like that,” the owner said as I flipped through his ’35s, picking out the best condition cards from among the duplicates. My ears perked up. “Really?” I said, mishearing the “had.”

“Yeah, that sold fast.”

Disappointment stings. Of course, the guys on this card knew all about that. Read more

My sixth 1935 Goudey: Bill Terry

Dave Farquhar Baseball January 24, 2015January 11, 2015Bill Terry, cardinals, Carl Hubbell, Goudey, New York, New York Giants

My sixth ’35 featured four Giants players. I didn’t realize at first what a good card it was, that it featured four All-Stars and not one but two Hall of Famers. Bill Terry was the obvious one, but it’s easy to forget how good the Giants were then given that Terry and Mel Ott and Carl Hubbell towered over the rest of the team.

My fifth 1935 Goudey: Dazzy Vance

Dave Farquhar Baseball January 18, 2015January 10, 20151940s, cardinals, Goudey, Jimmie Foxx, Louis Browns, Major League, Major League Baseball, National League, Philadelphia Athletics, Washington Senators

As I mentioned before, four of my cards came in a single visit to a local baseball card shop. The nicest card in terms of condition that I bought in that four-card batch featured Hall of Fame pitcher Dazzy Vance, so overall it was probably the best card out of the batch as well.

Vance is the only Hall of Famer on this card, but the other three players certainly had interesting careers, even though 1935 wasn’t necessarily a highlight year for any of them.

My fourth 1935 Goudey: Ethan Allen

Dave Farquhar Baseball January 17, 2015January 10, 2015Babe Ruth, Goudey, Philadelphia Phillies, pittsburgh pirates

I picked up four 1935 Goudey cards in one swoop–something I don’t expect to repeat many more times while still buying locally–but I’ll write about the cards one at a time, starting with the cheapest card, which had an unexpected personal meaning, especially given that it contained no Hall of Famers and portrayed four Philadelphia Phillies players. Dad was from Pennsylvania, but he rooted for Philadelphia’s other team, the Athletics.

That card portrayed Ethan Allen, Jimmie Wilson, Fred Brickell and Bubber Jannard.

The case of the fake 1935 Babe Ruth

Dave Farquhar Baseball January 11, 2015January 11, 20151980s, Babe Ruth, Fleer, Goudey, New Year, Topps

Quick: Why is it easier to find a 1935 Goudey Babe Ruth on Ebay than the 1935 Goudey card featuring four of his former Yankee teammates, the less-than-immortal Red Rolfe, Johnny Allen, Jimmie DeShong, and Dixie Walker?

Because Red Rolfe was more likely to end up clothespinned onto bicycle spokes, right? Right?

That’s likely, but definitely not the only reason. Read more

My third 1935 Goudey: Luke Appling

Dave Farquhar Baseball January 10, 2015January 4, 20151950s, Chicago White Sox, commodore, commodore 64, Connie Mack, Goudey, Philadelphia Athletics

The third 1935 Goudey card I bought featured four members of the Chicago White Sox, including Hall of Famer Luke Appling. But Luke Appling wasn’t the reason I bought the card.

I bought the card for George Earnshaw and Jimmy Dykes, in that order. Neither of them are Hall of Famers but they mean something to me. That’s the reason we buy a lot of the cards we buy.

My second 1935 Goudey: Grimes, Klein, and Cuyler

Dave Farquhar Baseball January 4, 2015January 1, 20151950s, 1980s, 1990s, baseball cards, Burleigh Grimes, chicago cubs, Goudey, Jose Canseco, kmart, Louis County, National League

Sometime around the sixth grade I realized that prices on modern cards were very volatile. If a star player had a bad month, his card prices were likely to suffer, while a good month or good season could send prices skyward. I have few regrets in life, but I do wish I’d sold or traded off my Jose Canseco rookie cards when their book value was $300. I could buy several today for $5 or $6 if I wanted more. (I’ll pass.)

That’s about what I paid for my second 1935 Goudey card, which featured not one but three Hall of Famers in Chicago Cubs uniforms: Burleigh Grimes, Chuck Klein, and Kiki Cuyler, along with Woody English. And when I bought that card in the late 1980s, I knew none of them were going to have a bad year the next year.

My first 1935 Goudey card: Joe Vosmik

Dave Farquhar Baseball January 3, 2015January 1, 20151980s, baseball cards, cleveland indians, Goudey, left fielder, Louis Browns, Louis County, Washington Senators

Dad and I were at the late, lamented World of Baseball Cards on Lemay Ferry Road in south St. Louis County sometime in the late 1980s, flipping through vintage cards. Among the old cards in the pile was a 1935 Goudey 4-in-1 featuring Cleveland Indians players. The most noteworthy was Joe Vosmik, an All-Star left fielder who batted .348 that year.

I was debating whether to buy the card or not when Dad glanced over. “Get that one,” he said. “My dad knew Joe Vosmik.”