Genesis of an Old Judge Team Change

[barrysloate]

What's really interesting, at least to me, is that the trade of an obscure player from Milwaukee to Denver was not exactly a seismic event. The average baseball fan probably didn't even have a clue. But the design department got word of it, and had to quickly make the change for the next round of production. That they were so fastidious with something like this is really amazing. The trade could only have mattered to a fan from either Milwaukee or Denver. Why would one in Brooklyn, for example, care if Klusman's card still read "Milwaukee"? It's fascinating to think of what was going on in the production room at the time.

[z28jd]

As an interesting side note, Klusman played his first game for Denver on May 4,1889....exactly 125 years (to the day) before you posted this card change.

Two other things on this. He homered in his first game and he was a bum at the time due to a shoulder injury, so he really bounced around that season as teams were willing to give him a shot based on name alone. He wasn't traded at all, just signed and released often. Even played for another team from Denver, which is why I searched for info on him. Seeing if the name change could actually be a new team in the OJ set. He finished the year for the Denver Solis of the Colorado State League

[oldjudge]

John--interesting idea, but probably not the case. Goodwin interchanged the singular and plural of city names on a regular basis. Great research!
For those who don't know, there is no one better than John at baseball research.

[z28jd]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

John--interesting idea, but probably not the case. Goodwin interchanged the singular and plural of city names on a regular basis. Great research!
For those who don't know, there is no one better than John at baseball research.

I didn't think so once I found out the order in which he played in the Western Association, but based on your scans, I figured if he was with Denver first, then Milwaukee, then the other Denver team would have been correct. That team also had William White, so if you find his card with Denver, it would be pretty rare aka 1 of 1

Thanks for the compliment. It also means I have a little too much time as well

[oldjudge]

LOL, I probably find that White card in a lot with a Buffalo PL card.

[z28jd]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

LOL, I probably find that White card in a lot with a Buffalo PL card.

I still think there is a Buffalo card out there. For those that don't know, a large original collection was found in the late 80's and the players were sorted by teams, written down on paper. One of the teams listed was Buffalo, but no Buffalo card has ever been found. It's still possible, there are a couple teams that are extremely rare in the set with only one known player, so who knows.

[oldjudge]

I had never heard that story. Four of the eight PL teams have no known cards. Perhaps a Cleveland PL card will be found also. Hopefully, it is a Browning or a Delahanty.