Last Card of HOF'ers

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Posted By: John Spencer

I watched with admiration coupled perhaps with a small touch of envy as Hal slowly but surely edged towards completing his quest of assembling the rookie cards of all HOF'ers who gained entry on the basis of their playing career. It got me thinking about the last card produced for these immortals and the difficulty and expense of trying to put together such a collection. Certainly it would require a fair amount of research. So without further adieu let's see if we can come up the definitive list of those last cards. To keep it simple, let's exclude post cards and exhibits and consider only those players whose career ended before 1941. I will start it off:
Lou Gehrig - 1936 World Wide Gum

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

Last card during the player's playing career...

or last card period??

I think we have to say that it was during the player's career to make it a "real" card...

and not one that was issued of Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb in 1961 by Fleer, etc.

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

For Babe Ruth, who only played in 28 games in 1935 and then never again...

I would say: 1935 Goudey 4-in-1

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Posted By: identify7

For the last card of a player's career one can select the card issued the year following a player's retirement, imo, since the photograph was most likely obtained during the playing days of the ballplayer, and the card will include the player's actual lifetime stats, if stats are portrayed.


Edited to add: Why no postcards nor Exhibits?

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Posted By: Adam J. Moraine

Feller- 1956 Topps
J. Robinson-1956 Topps
Aaron-1976 Topps

Best Regards,

Adam J. Moraine

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Posted By: T206Collector

What about T206 cards of players like Jake Beckley and Hugh Duffy?

Duffy's last game was in 1906 and Beckley's was in 1907, yet both have T206 cards -- Duffy as manager of the White Sox and Beckley as a minor leaguer.

It's a lot easier to have 1st card of HOF'ers than last card, given the ways that players and former players have been depicted on card issues since the dawn of baseball cards.

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Posted By: Rich Jacobs

1928 Yuengling's Ice Cream

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

Ty Cobb: Any of the 1928 Ice Cream cards

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Posted By: Rich Jacobs

If anyone collected HOFers this way, he/she could call it "The Counter Hal Collection".

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Posted By: Paul

Covaleski and Cobb also appear in the 1928 Star Candy set. I believe Speaker also has a last card in the Star Candy set.

Walter Johnson has a 1927 E210 York Caramel as well as a 1927 E126 American Caramel.

Do "W" cards count? G.C. Alexander has a 1930 W517 that lists him with the Phillies. He also has a W590 that lists him with the House of David. That wouldn't qualify as his last major league card, but I think it's likely that he also has a W590 with the Phillies (though I've never seen one).

The M101-4/5 sets also have a lot of last cards, like Walsh, Brown, Bresnahan, and the uncatalogued Bobby Wallace. Sam Crawford is in these sets and the E135 Collins McCarthy set.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

In addition to having career stats (or close to it), they are usually cheaper than earlier cards. I define it as the last regular issue card of an active MLB player from a major set. So, the 1974 World Series card with Willie Mays, the 1977 Minnie Minoso highlight card, etc., are not last cards as far as my collection goes. With managers, however, the last card is the last card issued as a manager. When you have a guy who had a career as both, the line can be hard to draw as to what to collect. Look at Durocher. My favorite cards of him are his 1950s Bowman issues. My favorite last cards are:

1976 Topps Hank Aaron
1975 Topps Frank Robinson
1973 Topps Willie Mays
1969 Topps Mickey Mantle
1960 Fleer Ted Williams
1955 Topps Hal Newhouser
1956 Topps Bob Feller and Jackie Robinson
1957 Topps Roy Campanella
1973 Topps Roberto Clemente

If you simply want the last card someone was on while active in MLB or even minors, there are lots of really fascinating cards out there. For example, Andy Cohen, the 1930s Jewish phenom that McGraw pushed so hard was a coach for a long time and is on a 1960 Phillies coaches card. Harry Hooper is on a Zeenuts card after he was out of the majors, as is Jim Thorpe.

There are some great Exhibit cards that are likely last cards too. Speaker with the A's and Cobb with the A's from the PC-backed set, 1927 Johnson.

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Posted By: Darren J. Duet

1952 Berk Ross Joe Dimaggio

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Posted By: Brad Green

Lefty Grove: 1941 Double Play (w/ Bobby Doerr)

Of course, Lefty retired after the 1941 season. So... he doesn't exactly meet your criterion of retiring BEFORE 1941, but I'll add his name to your list anyway.

If having more than one player on the card violates one of your unspoken rules, then his last card would be his 1937 O-Pee-Chee Batter-Up card.