Collecting every team

[BuzzD]

If you were to try to collect one card from every major and minor league team, which team would be the most difficult? exclude postcards. Post 1900.

[Lobo Aullando]

Especially in the first part of the 20th century, there were so many minor league teams that would start off the season and then blinker out of existence by the second month. There must be scores of teams for which nothing more than a few dozen newspaper articles exist.

Baseball Reference has the standings of dozens of leagues during those times, yet hardly any statistics. And sometimes there aren't even standings, although I guess at least there's chance some exist on microfiche in some mid-size city's library.

I'd love to run across something from the Aberdeen Black Cats or Bremerton Bluejackets. I just know that it's not happening.

Originally Posted by BuzzD

If you were to try to collect one card from every major and minor league team, which team would be the most difficult? exclude postcards. Post 1900.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by BuzzD

If you were to try to collect one card from every major and minor league team, which team would be the most difficult? exclude postcards. Post 1900.

I honestly don't know for certain, but suspect/suggest maybe from one of the California League teams that appeared in the N172 Old Judge set. Also seem to remember a discussion or two about some other team in the Old Judge set that maybe only appeared on a single card of a single player. Oh, and then there are the Player's League teams in the Old Judge set as well. Somewhat similar to the Federal League that was only around as a minor league in 1913, and then as a third major league in 1914 and 1915. Some of those Federal League teams made it onto Cracker Jack cards. The Player's League was formed in late 1889, and played only a single season in 1890, which was also the last year OJ cards were distributed before Goodwin & Co. was taken over during the year and became part of the ATC. Those are some of the more well-known rare team cards out there that immediately come to mind. And finding one for sale, let alone then being able to afford to buy it, may be virtually impossible.

It is also very likely there are some extremely obscure and rare minor league card sets out there that included teams only around for a very short period of time, where maybe only a card or two of a particular team still exists. But those instances can be so rare and obscure, they may not even be known yet to the hobby today, and simply still sitting in a box or scrapbook in someone's basement or attic. Or they could otherwise be buried in some private collection. So even if you found what you think is the answer today, it could change tomorrow.

So, outside some really obscure minor league team(s), I'd nominate some of those OJ cards I previously mentioned.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by BobC

I honestly don't know for certain, but suspect/suggest maybe from one of the California League teams that appeared in the N172 Old Judge set. Also seem to remember a discussion or two about some other team in the Old Judge set that maybe only appeared on a single card of a single player. Oh, and then there are the Player's League teams in the Old Judge set as well. Somewhat similar to the Federal League that was only around as a minor league in 1913, and then as a third major league in 1914 and 1915. Some of those Federal League teams made it onto Cracker Jack cards. The Player's League was formed in late 1889, and played only a single season in 1890, which was also the last year OJ cards were distributed before Goodwin & Co. was taken over during the year and became part of the ATC. Those are some of the more well-known rare team cards out there that immediately come to mind. And finding one for sale, let alone then being able to afford to buy it, may be virtually impossible
It is also very likely there are some extremely obscure and rare minor league card sets out there that included teams only around for a very short period of time, where maybe only a card or two of a particular team still exists. But those instances can be so rare and obscure, they may not even be known yet to the hobby today, and simply still sitting in a box or scrapbook in someone's basement or attic. Or they could otherwise be buried in some private collection. So even if you found what you think is the answer today, it could change tomorrow.

So, outside some really obscure minor league team(s), I'd nominate some of those OJ cards I previously mentioned.

Post 1900 Bob and no postcards or I would nominate 1908 Rose PC Scranton Miners. Tough question and really obscure when adding the minor leagues in the mix, so many one and done minor league sets out there.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

Post 1900 Bob and no postcards or I would nominate 1908 Rose PC Scranton Miners. Tough question and really obscure when adding the minor leagues in the mix, so many one and done minor league sets out there.

Sorry, sorry ,sorry, my bad, missed the post 1900 point. I still mention the Federal League teams from 1913-1915. Outside of Cracker Jacks, not really sure where you'd find them. And so many rare and obscure minor league teams after 1900, there's probably some regional issue where only a card or two from a particular team still exists. And there are probably still some others out there that no one may even know about in the overall hobby yet. Bob Lemke and his SCD catalog crew never listed every single card set that ever existed. I'm sure there are some that even they didn't know about.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by BobC

Sorry, sorry ,sorry, my bad, missed the post 1900 point. I still mention the Federal League teams from 1913-1915. Outside of Cracker Jacks, not really sure where you'd find them. And so many rare and obscure minor league teams after 1900, there's probably some regional issue where only a card or two from a particular team still exists. And there are probably still some others out there that no one may even know about in the overall hobby yet. Bob Lemke and his SCD catalog crew never listed every single card set that ever existed. I'm sure there are some that even they didn't know about.

I'd also nominate the H998 Western Playground set although one could find the same players in other west cost issues.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

I'd also nominate the H998 Western Playground set although one could find the same players in other west cost issues.

But the OP's question depends on the team, not the players, right? That's what can make this question all the tougher. Also, listings of sets and such don't always automatically include the teams they were shown playing for. For many, you need to get images of pretty much all the different cards in every set to verify the teams, or be prepared to do a lot of cross-checking of players to teams they played with over the years. I am not that knowledgeable when it comes to obscure minor league teams. There may be some others on the board aware of some of these really obscure and rare minor league sets, that could lead to images of even rarer minor league team's players.

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by BobC

Sorry, sorry ,sorry, my bad, missed the post 1900 point. I still mention the Federal League teams from 1913-1915. Outside of Cracker Jacks, not really sure where you'd find them. And so many rare and obscure minor league teams after 1900, there's probably some regional issue where only a card or two from a particular team still exists. And there are probably still some others out there that no one may even know about in the overall hobby yet. Bob Lemke and his SCD catalog crew never listed every single card set that ever existed. I'm sure there are some that even they didn't know about.

Bob, right off the top of my head, I know there are cards of Federal League players in the T214 and T216 sets, and perhaps in other sets as well. Here's a T214 Federal League card:

[BobC]

Originally Posted by ValKehl

Bob, right off the top of my head, I know there are cards of Federal League players in the T214 and T216 sets, and perhaps in other sets as well. Here's a T214 Federal League card:

Thanks Val,

Like I said, I wasn't sure, and was hoping if I was wrong that someone else might speak up, so thank you for chiming in. For me, the T214 and T216 sets are ones I never really got into collecting, so don't know much about them. Always great to learn something new though.