#220 Lefty Grove

This is one of my favorite cards in the set (have I been saying that about every card?). I like the vivid and colorful depiction of the ballfield and it certainly doesn't hurt that it features one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. I picked up this card from Heritage Auctions a couple of months ago. It's a solid SGC 50, with no creases or wrinkles. With a little better centering, it might have had a shot at grading as a 60.

Robert "Lefty" Grove's career really speaks for itself, so I'll just highlight some of his impressive achievements. Grove pitched for 17 seasons from 1925-1941 for the Philadelphia Athletics (1925-1933) and Boston Red Sox (1933-1941). For his career, Grove was 300-141, with a 3.06 ERA and 2,266 Ks (which is a lot for the era in which he pitched - he led the AL in strikeouts for seven consecutive seasons from 1925-1931). His career 148 ERA+ is fourth-best all-time, behind Mariano Rivera (202!), Pedro Martinez (154) and Jim Devlin (151).

His best season was 1931 when he was named MVP after going 31-4 with a 2.06 ERA (219 ERA+) and 27 complete games. That season, Connie Mack's squad went 107-45, but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series in seven games. A win in that series would have made three in a row, as the A's won in 1929 and 1930. In eight career World Series appearances, Grove went 4-2 with a 1.75 ERA and 4 complete games in 5 starts.

Following the 1933 season, the A's traded Grove, along with Max Bishop and Rube Walberg to the Red Sox for Bob Kline, Rabbit Warstler, and $125,000. Unless the A's were on the brink of bankruptcy and needed the cash, it was a mistake. Kline and Warstler washed out and Grove led the league in ERA in 1935, 1936, 1938, and 1939. Over eight seasons in Boston, Grove went 105-62 with a 3.34 ERA (143 ERA+)

Grove was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1947.

#193 Lynford Lary

This card was also in the batch of PSA crossovers that I recently received back from SGC. The card was originally a PSA 6 and crossed over at the same grade to SGC 80. It's a nice example, with great centering and good corners. On the design side, it's not one of the better efforts in the set, with a yellow background that is a little blah for a guy with such a great name.

Lynford Lary, nicknamed "Broadway," played parts of 12 seasons as a shortstop with the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns (twice), Cleveland Indians, Brooklyn Dodgers, and St. Louis Cardinals. He is featured on this card as a member of the Yankees. As a hitter, he didn't have much pop (.372 career SLG), but he had a keen eye, posting a very solid career .369 OBP, thanks to 705 career walks against 470 strikeouts.

His best season came as a 25-year old in 1931, when he posted a .280/.376/.416 line (113 OPS+) with 10 home runs and 107 RBI as the Yankees' starting shortstop. Apparently, the Yankees weren't impressed and Lary lost his job the next season to 21-year old Frankie Crosetti, who would hold down the shortstop position full-time for the Yankees through the 1940 season. Oddly, it appears that Lary was the superior offensive player (91 career OPS+ to Crosetti's 84). Crosetti never had an offensive season as productive as Lary's 1931 campaign. Lary led the American League in stolen bases in 1936 with 37, during his first stint with the St. Louis Browns.

Lary was married to Mary Lawlor, an actor who starred on Broadway and in two feature films.

#88 Russell "Red" Rollings

I received #88 Russell "Red" Rollings (SGC 60) in the mail today from an eBay purchase. I particularly like the art on this card - it pictures Rollings in an action pose, set against a vibrant red background. I like how the circular Goudey Gum Company copyright logo, which is typically placed in the lower left or lower right corner of the card, had to be placed on Rollings's jersey so that it would be visible. The card is a solid 60, with good centering and a clean surface.

Red Rollings, from Mobile, Alabama, was primarily a third basemen, who also saw action at second base, first base, and outfield. He played for the Boston Red Sox in 1927-28 and the Boston Braves in 1930, totaling 184 games and 355 at-bats in his major league career. The inclusion of Rollings illustrates one of the interesting aspects of the '33 Goudey set, in that it featured many minor league players, much like the T206 set. In 1933, Rollings was already out of the major leagues for two years and was playing for the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association. He would continue to play in the minor leagues until 1941, managing his team for three of those seasons.

In his major league career, Rollings put up a .251/.311/.299 line. Goudey describes him on the back of the card as a "dangerous man at bat in a pinch" - he had a .350 batting average as a pinch hitter in the majors. He was a career .316 hitter in the minor leagues.