Great Moments in BB History Depicted on BB Cards

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Posted By: peter chao

I remember a great 1948 Sports Thrills card with a beaming Lou Gehrig on the front of the card. On the back of the card there was a short description of the day that Lou Gehrig hit 4 home runs in one game.

What's your favorite Vintage card depicting a great moment in BB History?

Peter C.

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Posted By: ItsOnlyGil

I recently purchased a Marshall & Ball Clothier's trade card from a fellow board member which shows a rather dejected ballplayer leaning over his bat with his hand up to his mouth as if (to me) wondering. The title of the card is "A Heavy Hit"
I use it to depict the Chicago White Stockings 1877 season - in which they set the still standing record for home run hitting futility; with a team season production of zero home runs.


Edited to add:
As a side note, the Chicago White Stockings, seven years later set the record for home run hitting success with a team season production which was not broken for 43 years (until the 1927 Yankees).

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Posted By: Paul S

Here it is. It's actually a post-war card:

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Posted By: peter chao

How about the key card in the '48 Sports Thrills set, the one with Ruth crossing home plate after his called shot. Gehrig is near home plate to congratulate him. Do you have that card also?

Peter C.

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Posted By: Paul S

Sorry Peter, this is my only Sports Thrills. I bought it because at the time I needed a Gehrig in my collection.

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Posted By: Gil

Ruth never did that. Neither did Aaron, Bonds, nor Williams ever hit 4 hrs in a game. Foxx, Greenberg, Ott, and most other sluggers also never achieved this accomplishment. But Pat Seerey did. And I like his Leaf card among the other much more noteworthy players who did get 4hrs/gm.

Pat was a player who every time he strode to the plate, he thought he was the Babe. And his perpetual swinging for the seats netted him many season strikeout records eventhough he typically didn't play a full season (because his batting average was continually flirting with the Mendoza line).

But Pat Seerey did get his day in the sun, it was an extra inning game, but it also was a four homer game. And this too, I commemorate with his Leaf card - right alongside of that of Gil Hodges, Ed Delahanty, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, and the others.

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

I have 5 of those Sports Thrills cards, none of them in very great shape. This one is my favorite. Card #9, Al Gionfriddo's Catch. There's great video of the catch, showing Joe DiMaggio hitting the ball down the left field line in the bottom of the 6th inning in game 6 of the 1947 World Series, between the Yankees and the Dodgers. Yogi Berra had singled just before DiMaggio batted, Stirnweiss had walked earlier, 2 on, 2 out. DiMaggio at the plate... The video shows the catch, then shows DiMaggio rounding 2nd and as the catch is made Joe kicks at the infield dirt..

Up to this point in time Gionfriddo's catch was considered the greatest in World Series play.

Gionfriddo had walked and scored on Cookie Lavagetto's 2 run single in game 4 of the 1947 World Series, scoring on the only hit given up by Bill Bevins of the Yankees. Oddly, Al's catch was made in his last major league game. He didn't play in game 7 (won by the Yankees, 5-2), and he never made another major league roster afterward.

Tough to find Gionfriddo on any baseball card contemporary with when he played.

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Posted By: Bob Pomilla

I'm sure that most know this, but it's worth mentioning again, in this context. On the day Gehrig hit those four homers, John McGraw retired as manager of the Giants. So Gehrig's feat was pushed from the headlines because of what was considered a bigger story. This, of course, was to be Gehrig's fate throughout his career as he played a large part of it in the rather large shadow of George Herman Ruth.

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Posted By: boxingcardman

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Posted By: peter chao

Since it's World Series time, are there any more vintage cards depicting World Series heroics?

Peter C.

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Posted By: howard

Am I wrong or is that photo on the baseball Hi-Lites card not actually from the Merkle's Boner game? Also, it looks like the date at the top is 1928 instead of 1908.

Howard