06 March 2011

Baseball "cards" in Newspapers

       Over the last 100 years or so, the sports section of various newspapers around the U.S. have featured illustrations or even "baseball cards" of baseball players.  In the 1920s and 1930s, syndicated columnist and cartoonist Jack Sords, in his "Sords Points" pieces, provided wonderful illustrations to go along with his pieces, both historical and contemporary, of all manner of athletes.



       By the 1970s and 1980s, the newspaper industry had undergone decades of cheapening, and there just wasn't room (or money) in a newspaper for cartoons that were neither funny nor political.  But as a small bonus some papers included series of short profiles designed as collectible "cards", to be clipped out of the newspaper and saved, such as these mentioned by the Uncataloged Baseball Cards blog:

1958 Cincinnati Enquirer Reds Scrapbook

1984 Cincinnati Enquirer Reds Scrapbook

1970-1971 Dayton Daily News

1981 Long Beach Telegram - Steve Garvey/Rod Carew


       Some of these have actually been catalogued and included in the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, such as the sets from the Minneapolis Star in the late 70s:

1977 Minneapolis Star Twins Scrapbook - Rod Carew


       As I dig around in various online newspaper archives, I'll post the "card" sets I find here and the newspapers and issues they appeared in.  Incidentally, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazettes below are all available in the Google News Archive and the Chicago sets are available in the Chicago Tribune Archive.

Boston Daily Record, "Baseball Scrap Book", 1934
Burlington Free Press, "Free Press Baseball Cards", 30 March - 20 May 1978 (not every day)

Chicago Tribune, "Autograph Album", 04 July - 04 August 1963
Chicago Tribune, "Cubs & Sox Scrapbook", 12 June - 9 July 1977
Chicago Tribune, "Sox & Cubs Scrapbook", 22 June - 18 July 1980
Chicago Tribune, "White Sox Scrapbook", 13 September - 01 October 1983

Chicago Tribune, "Cubs Scrapbook", 05 September - 02 October 1984
Cincinnati Enquirer, "Reds Scrapbook", 02 March - 14 April 1958
Cincinnati Enquirer, "Reds Scrapbook", 22 February - 31 March 1959
Cincinnati Enquirer, "Reds Scrapbook", 22 February - 29 March 1962
Cincinnati Enquirer, "Reds Scrapbook", 09 March - 10 April 1963
Cincinnati Enquirer, "Reds Scrapbook", 12 March - 10 April 1964
Cincinnati Enquirer, "The Enquirer Book on the Reds", 11 March - 08 April 1965
Cincinnati Enquirer, "Reds Scrapbook", 06 March - 04 April 1966
Cincinnati Enquirer, "Meet your Reds", 12 March - 09 April 1967
Cincinnati Enquirer, "Reds Scrapbook" printed in 1984

Cincinnati Post, "Your Album of the Reds", 22 July - 22 August 1938, large photos of each player with facsimile signatures.  The series was started without fanfare, only a note along the bottom of the front page on July 22nd of the first photo, and ended just as abruptly. There were no photos on Aug 3 & 4, or Aug 6 & 8.



1938-07-22 Bill Myers
1938-07-23 Paul Derringer
1938-07-25 Willard Hershberger
1938-07-26 Ray Davis
1938-07-27 Lewis Riggs
1938-07-28 Joe Cascarella
1938-07-29 Buck McCormick
1938-07-30 Ernie Lombardi
1938-08-01 Gene Schott
1938-08-02 Dusty Cooke
1938-08-05 Junior Frey
1938-08-09 Lee Grissom
1938-08-10 Whitey Moore
1938-08-11 Harry Craft
1938-08-12 Johnny Vander Meer
1938-08-13 Bill McKechnie
1938-08-15 Edd Roush
1938-08-16 Harry Gowdy
1938-08-17 Wally Berger
1938-08-18 Lee Gamble
1938-08-19 Bucky Walters
1938-08-20 Don Lang
1938-08-22 Nolen Richardson













Dayton Daily News, "Bubblegumless Cards", 05 April 1970 - 26 May 1971

Detroit  Free Press, Bubblegumless Tiger Cards Sept 1968
[Escondido] The Times-Advocate, 11 April 1983, 29 full-color Padres cards, included in a special 1983 Padres supplement
Long Beach Press Telegram, 1980 (series of 26, two players per "card", all Dodgers and Angels)
Long Beach Press Telegram, 1981 (series of 26, two players per "card", all Dodgers and Angels)
Los Angeles Examiner, "Dodgers' Album" 1960
Los Angeles Herald Examiner, "Dodgers Scrapbook" printed in 1977
Minneapolis Star, "Twins Scrapbook", 04 July - 12 August 1977

Philadelphia Bulletin, Phillies Stand-Ups, 25 July - 29 August 1949
Philadelphia Bulletin, Athletics/Phillies 1949
Philadelphia Inquirer, "Fightin' Phillies Album", 17 September - 1 October 1950, included in the Suday magazine supplement, 8 per issue, 4 per page

Sports StampsSports Stamps 28 Apr 1936, Tue Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Newspapers.com Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, "Sports Stamps" printed, on weekdays, 1936 across several different major regional Hearst-owned papers such as the Detroit Times, Buffalo Times and Chicago American

14 April Gus Suhr
14 April Pie Traynor
15 April Paul Waner
15 April Lloyd Waner
16 April Bud Hafey
16 April Tommy Padden
17 April Fred Schulte
17 April Cookie Lavagetto
18 April Arky Vaughan
18 April Clarence Struss

19 April reprinted the first 10 stamps with added brief bios of each player.
From the 20th, bios were included with each stamp.
20 April Ralph Birkofer
20 April Bill Swift 
21 April Bill Brubaker
21 April Hal Finney
22 April Cy Blanton
22 April John Tising
23 April Red Lucas
23 April Waite Hoyt
24 April Guy Bush
24 April Floyd Young
25 April Mace Brown
25 April Jim Weaver
27 April Woody Jensen
27 April Al Todd
28 April Jewel Ens
28 April Honus Wagner

New York Giants
29 April Bill Terry, mgr
29 April Travis Jackson
30 April Mel Ott
30 April Dick Bartell
1 May Carl Hubbell
1 May Hank Leiber
2 May Hal Schumacher
2 May Fred Fitzsimmons
4 May Slick Castleman
4 May Harry Gumbert
5 May Gus Mancuso
5 May Mark Koenig
6 May Burgess Whitehead
6 May Joe Moore
7 May Fred Marberry
7 May George Davis

Chicago Cubs
8 May Lefty Grimm, mgr
8 May Woody English
9 May Gabby Hartnett
9 May Phil Cavaretta
11 May Lon Warneke
11 May Larry French
12 May Bill Lee
12 May Roy Henshaw
13 May Chuck Klein
13 May Tex Carleton
14 May Stanley Hack
14 May Billy Jurges
15 May Augie Galan
15 May Frank Demaree


27 Jul Dusty Cooke, Red Sox
27 Jul John Whitehead, White Sox
28 Jul Buddy Myer, Senators
28 Jul Earl Whitehill, Senators
29 Jul Carl Reynolds, Senators
29 Jul Ossie Bluege, Senators
30 Jul Buck Newsom, Senators
30 Jul Jake Powell, Yankees
31 Jul Bucky Harris, Senators mgr

Cleveland Browns
31 Jul Lee Tietje
1 Aug Julius Solters
1 Aug Lee Roy Mehaffey
3 Aug Harland Clift
3 Aug Lyn Lary, Browns
4 Aug Rogers Hornsby, Browns mgr
4 Aug Russ Van Atta

5 Aug Joe McCarthy, Yankees mgr
5 Aug Connie Mack, Athletics mgr
6 Aug Casey Stengel, Dodgers mgr
6 Aug Chuch Dressen, Reds mgr
7 Aug Bill McKechnie, Braves mgr
7 Aug Steve O'Neill, Indians mgr
8 Aug Ivy Andrews, Browns

Later the series was expanded to include other athletes.

8 Aug Johnny Revolta, golfer
10 Aug Glenn Cunningham, runner
10 Aug Jesse Owens, runner
11 Aug Tony Canzoneri, boxer
11 Aug Fritzie Zivic, boxer
12 Aug Sam Parks, Jr., golfer
12 Aug Gene Sarazen, golfer
13 Aug Jack Sharkey, boxer
13 Aug Joe Louis, boxer
14 Aug Jimmy Braddock, boxer
14 Aug Max Schmeling, boxer
15 Aug Babe Risko, boxer
15 Aug Freddie Steele, boxer
17 Aug Bobby Jones, golfer
17 Aug W. Lawson Little, golfer
18 Aug Jock Sutherland, Pitt coach
18 Aug Howard Harpster, Tech coach
19 Aug Judge Walter P. Steffen, coach
19Aug John (Clipper) Smith, coach
20 Aug Pop Warner, coach
20 Aug Harry Kipke, coach
21 Aug Horton Smith, golf pro
21 Aug Jimmy Thomson, golf pro
22 Aug Helen Wills Moody, tennis
22 Aug Tony Manero, golf pro
24 Aug Ty Cobb, baseball star
24 Aug Jess Willard, boxer
25 Aug Emil Loeffler, golf pro
25 Aug Vincent Eldred, golf pro
26 Aug Bill Tilden, tennis
26 Aug Ellsworth Vines, tennis
27 Aug Gus Dorais, football coach
27 Aug Lou Diegel, golf pro
28 Aug Johnny Risko, boxer
28 Aug Bert Munhall, trainer
29 Aug Fred Perry, tennis
29 Aug Helen Jacobs, tennis
31 Aug Ray Eberle, announcer
31 Aug Wilmer Allison, tennis
1 Sept W.C. Fownes, Jr., golfer
1 Sept George A. Ormiston, golfer
2 Sept Jack Cummings, City League baseball
2 Sept Heine Boll, City League baseball
3 Sept Mary Kuhn, golfer
3 Sept Betty Abernety, golfer
4 Sept David O'Loughlin, tennis
4 Sept Frank Broida, tennis
5 Sept Lou Ambers, boxer
5 Sept Sixto Escobar, boxer

Pittsburgh Press, "Buc-A-Day", 05 March - 29 March 1972 
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, " '72 Pirates Album", 06 March - 06 April 1972

1 Gene Alley (March 6)
2 Steve Blass (March 7)
3 Nelson Briles (March 8)
4 Dave Cash (March 9)
5 Roberto Clemente (March 10)
6 Gene Clines (March 11)
7 Vic Davalillo (March 13)
8 Dock Ellis (March 14)
9 Dave Giusti (March 15)
10 Richie Hebner (March 16)
11 Jackie Hernandez (March 17)
12 Ramon Hernandez (March 18)
13 Bob Johnson (March 20)
14 Bruce Kison (March 21)
15 Milt May (March 22)
16 Bill Mazeroski (March 23)
17 Bob Miller (March 24)
18 Bob Moose (March 25)
19 Al Oliver (March 27)
20 Jose Pagan (March 28)
21 Bob Robertson (March 29)
22 Charlie Sands (March 30)
23 Manny Sanguillen (March 31)
24 Rennie Stennett (April 1)
25 Willie Stargell (April 3)
26 Bob Veale (April 4)
27 Luke Walker (April 5)
28 Bill Virdon (April 6)

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, " '73 Pirates Album", 21 Feb - 21 March 1973

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, " '75 Pirates Album", 03 March - 04 April 1975

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Pirates Portraits", 13 June - 18 July 1977


San Diego Union, "Meet the Padres",  8 March - 19 April 1981
San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Giants 16 October 1987
Seattle Post-Intelligencer,  "Pilot Profiles", 1969
Wichita Eagle-Beacon, Monday papers, 1983-1985 @ Uncatalogued Baseball Cards: 198319841985

Other sports:

Basketball
The Michigan Daily, Wolverine Trading Cards, 1984
November 28, 1984 - Antoine Joubert, Gary Grant, Robert Henderson, Garde Thompson, Leslie Rockymore, Chuck DeGlopper, Gerary Rudy, Roy Tarpley, Rich Rellford, Steve Stoyko, Ron Gibbs, Butch Wade.

Football
Cincinnati Enquirer, Bengals Scrapbook, 3 Aug - 14 Sept 1970


Hattiesburg American, "Eagles Cards", 28 November - 16 December 1988
University of Southern Mississippi, 75 players, 5 players per issue


Tallahassee Democrat bubble gum-less FSU/FAMU cards, 18 September - 20 Novenber 1982



NASCAR
The Tuscaloosa News, Talladega's Legends Posters, October 6-23, 2001
1 Tony Stewart
2 Bobby Labonte
3 Darrell Waltrip
4 Bobby Allison
5 Mark Martin
6 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
7 Bill Elliott
8 Sterling Marlin
9 Cale Yarborough
10 Dale Jarrett
11 Kevin Harvick
12 Neil Bonnett
13 Jeff Gordon
14 Davey ALlison
15 Richard Petty
16 Dale Earnhardt
17 Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Soccer
Seattle Times, "Seattle Sounders" printed August 1980
10 Aug Jack Brand/Mike Ivanow
11 Aug John Ryan/Bobby Howe
12 Aug David Nish/Jeff Stock
13 Aug Tommy Hutchison/Bruce Miller
14 Aug Ian Bridge/Steve Buttle
15 Aug Bruce Rioch/John Andersen
16 Aug Mark Peterson/Roy Greaves
17 Aug Alan Hinton/Frank Barton
18 Aug Max Thompson/Alan Hudson
19 Aug Roger Davies/Jeff Bourne

5 comments:

  1. One of the Seattle papers did a set for the Pilots in 1969: http://www.seattlepilots.com/profiles01.html

    Don't know off hand if it's in the Standard Catalog or not. I had a reprint set for it years ago.

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  2. I dug around in the Standard Catalog and couldn't find any references to a newspaper-based Seattle Pilots set, so I guess it's undocumented. So far, the Post-Intelligencer isn't available that far back in any of the online newspaper archives.

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  3. Ah, Beckett does list the Pilots set as being from the Post-Intelligencer in 1969. It was also reprinted in 1977 as an actual set of cards.

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  4. I'm not sure if this fits the bill, but the San Francisco Chronicle issued a series of "cards" as Barry Bonds made his home run progress in 2001. Here's a scan: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FcWLz_OXp0k/TgAho1KQIjI/AAAAAAAAB_Y/mpmKXVNrCkA/s1600/scan0217.jpg

    They were printed in the newspaper, and while I don't believe they start at #1, I've seen them from the 30s or early 40s all the way through the end of the season.

    Thanks again, by the way, for your all your feedback today!

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  5. After a little digging, it appears there were two versions of these "cards". The versions issued in the daily papers, mostly in black and white, and with Bonds' name in the solid stripe at the bottom, and then at the end of the season, the Chronicle re-issued a new version of the entire set, in color, in a souvenir pull-out edition with the date of each home run in the stripe at the bottom. It looks like the updated edition also used different photos, so it is essentially a whole new set.

    ReplyDelete