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.

From the back of the card: “One of the fastest runners on the Detroit Tigers is Heinie Schuble.”

There are a shocking number of players in the 1933 Goudey set that have the name or nickname “Heinie.” There are four, including a guy named Heinie Meine.

Schuble broke into the majors at age 20 in 1927, but didn’t have much a career. Over the course of seven seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers, Schuble had just over a 1000 plate appearances, primarily as a shortstop and third basemen. The qualified praise of his speed from the back of the card must have been referring to going from first to third because Schuble stole only 19 bases in his career (in 26 attempts).

When I was growing up and living with my parents, I stored all of my baseball cards in a closet in the TV room. Recently, my parents began renovating this room and had to empty out the closets. Upon doing so, my Mom made it clear to me that I had to store my baseball cards in my own house. This has resulted in tens of thousands of (mostly worthless) baseball cards sitting in boxes in my sunroom.

I was flipping through some of the cards the other day and found Mr. Barber, one of many 1992 Topps Draft Pick cards that features really awkward photos straight out of school picture day. Barber was selected in the first round (22nd overall) in the 1991 draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. From 1995-99, he got into 26 games for the Cardinals and Royals, going 5-8 with a 6.77 ERA.

From the back of the card: “Fast ball pitcher.”

Last week, I posted that I was beginning a collection of 1933 Goudey baseball cards, with the intention of completing the entire 239 card set within half a decade or so. Here’s the first card.

Baseball-Reference lists Mahaffey as “Lee Roy” rather than “Leroy,” and I’m inclined to go with them over a gum company. Mahaffey, who was nicknamed “Popeye,” was a below average pitcher who began his big league career at age 22 in 1926 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but threw only 14 innings for the Pirates over the 1926 and 1927 seasons. According to the back of the card, Mahaffey “had a tryout with Pittsburgh…but failed to make the grade.” (Modern baseball cards really lack that kind of frankness about a player’s performance.)

From 1930-1935, Mahaffey was with the Philadelphia Athletics, primarily as a starter. During that time, he started 118 games and posted a 64-43 record with a 4.82 ERA (adjusted ERA+ of 93). The A’s won the World Series during Mahaffey’s first season with the team. He finished his career with a forgettable season for the St. Louis Browns in 1936.

Mahaffey’s best season came when he went 15-4 with a 4.21 ERA for Connie Mack’s 1931 A’s team that went 107-45 in the regular season, but lost the World Series in 7 games to the St. Louis Cardinals. On that team, Mahaffey was part of a rotation that included future Hall of Famers Lefty Grove (who went 31-4 with a 219 ERA+) and Waite Hoyt. The team also included future HOFers Mickey Cochrane at catcher, Jimmie Foxx at first base, and Al Simmons in the outfield, who batted .390 in 1931. What a team.

Despite being thoroughly mediocre, Mahaffey does have one feather in his cap: He faced the New York Yankees 14 times, both as a starter and reliever, and did not surrender a home run to Babe Ruth. He wasn’t as lucky with Lou Gehrig, though. Gehrig took him deep 7 times.