A McCreachery Card Theory

[kkkkandp]

My 1887 Pud Galvin card looks like it says "Calvin."

Do you think that was a subtle reference by the creators of Old Judge cards to theologian John Calvin, upon whose theories Presbyterianism was based? Furthermore, through that could it be a veiled reference to the Presbyterian cocktail as a subtle dig against the teams in the American Association - the upstart "Beer and Whiskey League" - that was challenging the teams from the more established National League? Galvin came from the American Association to the National League in 1887.

Just a thought.

[z28jd]

Kevin speaks the truth. It is well-known that the Goodwin family was an uppity bunch, always willing to take potshots at those they deemed less fortunate. They were also huge supporters of the French.

An example of their family's affinity for the French can be found subtly on the card of Frenchy Genins. The Goodwin's were still much maligned earlier in the 19th century for their ardent support of the French during the US-French battles at sea from 1798-1800(known as the Quasi-War). While the Old Judge cards didn't come out until generations later, their support was undying and unwavering. Being a company located near a huge US harbor, they were always welcoming towards their French allies during the 1887 time period. The Goodwins themselves were seafaring people and they owned a small island in the NY harbor, not far from their company. The spelling of "Genius" on the Frenchy Genins card was not an error nor a jab at the player. Rather it was a beckoning call towards the French to resume their attacks, intelligence at the time indicated that the defensive mentality of the U.S. towards the French was down due to the recent goodwill shown by gift of the Statue of Liberty in 1886.

Thus my friends, Frenchy Genius was a subtle nod to the French that times were right for war.

[novakjr]

Guys, don't poke the bear... He's likely to expand those statements into the extremest of levels, and then turn all of that into fact. Next thing you know he'll be referencing the OJ Checklist here http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=85245
and he'll notice that the first letter in the last names of each player listed for each team are A, G, M, S. Obviously, that's a jumble that spell out "mags". Clearly in reference to gun "magazines". Also noting that the first 4 players listed for Chicago are Anson, Hoover, Clark and Sprague, resulting in A, H, C, S. Clearly, in this code, the second letter is thrown out and the remaining letters are jumbled once again to spell out CSA or Confederate States of America. And that the first player listed for New York is Slattery, sounds pretty close to Slavery. Duh! It's so obvious now.. "CSA" combined with "MAGS" and the choice of using Slattery first, conclusively shows that they were supporters of the south, who trying to re-start the Civil War..

[cyseymour]

You know, it's great that we have a bunch of comedians on the board. You would have done well as Old Judge card producers.

I noticed the bit about Calvin and Galvin on my own as well as I was going through the C's and G's. It's clearly a double-entendre about galvanizing Calvinists.

It is all good and well to poke fun at me, I am not as serious as you think. I still think that the McCreachery riddle is very feasible. It would be wickedly clever if it were so.

As far as Cetzein, it sure would be cool if it were so. As I've calmed down from the excitement of the initial association, yeah... maybe as not likely.. but anything is possible!

For your viewing pleasure:

Yiddish: vet zein translates to "will be", likely that a corruption of cet zein. So using cet zein as a form of Socratic questioning is to learn what will be. Which is reasonable.

It's impossible to know the intentions of the OJ producers, but clearly cet zein is an expression, and it has been used as Getzien's name. So whether it was intentional or not will remain a mystery, but still very interesting!

[Joe_G.]

No such thing as "Cetzein" N172. Not worth posting twice, just check out cyseymours other thread: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=160145

CySeymour, if you read my posts, my main objective was to correct your errors. I didn't attack your riddle. I think it is a bit silly, but I find it very interesting. I'd rate this as one of my favorite threads of 2012 despite the low blows. I like your enthusiasm for OJs, but you will find far more support if you simmer down a bit and avoid stating wild speculation as fact well before you've confirmed any of the facts. Hope to meet you in person some day, perhaps at a National.

To answer previous inquiries, some do believe the McCreachery card is really McGreachery. It is tough to tell. Lew Lipset catalogued the card as McGreachery. So what riddle is buried in McGreachery???

[cyseymour]

Joe,

With a "G", there would be no riddle in "McGreachery". If you go to post #87 you can see the reasons why I believe it to be McCreachery. But another reason is that I believe, among etymologists, the general rule of thumb is that if one is unsure between two different letters, and one of those letters creates a name or the root words of a name, while the other one is gibberish, then you go with the one that creates the root words of the name, as it is the most likely answer, seeing that it's a part of human language.

I'm still fairly confident that McCreachery was meant as a riddle. While, per the other thread, I realize that you are correct that "cetzein" was not, the McCreachery name does happen to be on a joke card and is derived from a fake, invented name, making a riddle much more likely.

As far as stating opinion as fact, I think it's just my writing style. I hadn't even considered it to be an issue, but I will try to be mindful of it in the future. I didn't mean to send you a lot of low blows, in fact, I hadn't realize I was. Sorry if you felt that way. Honestly, I felt that throughout the thread, you were consistently writing derogatory things.

But I have no reason to drum up the past and bring up old posts. Those are already done and finished. For the McCreachery card, still very possible it was a riddle, especially considering the context of the names and that the card possesses an invented name. As for Pretzel Getzien, it was interesting to learn a little German and the likely whereabouts of the Getzien family today.

I do plan to go to the National as well, and definitely hope to meet you. There is no doubt that you and your book co-authors have contributed a tremendous amount to the hobby. I also thank you for chiming in on this thread. As for me, I am someone who likes to challenge preconceived notions, even if I can't be right all the time. That's a standard which probably no one can live up to.

Cheers