Posts Tagged ‘New York Giants’

1933 Goudey: Eddie “Doc” Farrell

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 by Nerdicus Finch

eddie-farrell

From the back of the card: “Eddie is a registered dentist, besides being a high grade major league baseball player.”

I’ll give Goudey a pass on the “high grade” player thing because it is pretty impressive that Doc Farrell was a dentist. One of the fascinating things about reading about old-timey players is how many of them had professions other than baseball. I’ve read about two that were lawyers (including Moe Berg, who was a lawyer and spy for the U.S. during World War II).

Farrell probably should have stuck with dentistry, though. Over nine seasons in the major leagues, he got into just under 600 games and posted a career OPS+ of 66 as an infielder for the New York Giants, Boston Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox. In 1927, he placed 18th in the MVP voting by hitting .316 and driving in 92 runs, though he only slugged .389 that season.

Following the 1934 season, Farrell was traded by the Yankees, along with 4 other players, to San Francisco of the Pacific Coast League for Joe DiMaggio and players to be named later. Farrell refused to report to his new team and was eventually traded back to the Yankees as one of the players to be named later.

1933 Goudey: Hugh Critz

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 by Nerdicus Finch

hugh-critz

From the back of the card: “Although he doesn’t hit .300 very often, he gets a lot of hits.”

Actually, Hughie Critz only hit .300 or better once, in his 1924 rookie season with the Cincinnati Reds, when he hit .322 in 102 games. That was also the only season in which he posted an OPS+ over 100. It was all downhill from there. Critz appeared in almost 1500 games in a 12 year career, as a second basemen for the Reds and New York Giants, posting a career OPS+ of 73. Somehow, he placed in the top 5 in MVP voting twice (2nd in 1926 and 4th in 1928).

In 1933, the year in which this card was issued, Critz was a member of the World Series champion Giants, who beat the Washington Senators in 5 games. That 1933 Giants team featured future Hall of Famers Bill Terry, Mel Ott, Travis Jackson, and Carl Hubbell, as well as some guy named Jo-Jo Moore.