Alous!
Can't forget Jesus. At the Hall of Fame, I was able to visit their research library and they pulled their files for each of the Alou brothers for me to browse. Lots of talk about Jesus being the most talented of the three. There was also an article written by Felipe Alou in a 1964 issue of Sport Magazine about Latin American players needing their own Bill of Rights. Apparently in the 60s, players could be fined for playing against Cuban players, or even just playing in Winter Ball. Felipe wrote a very strong argument against the fine and explained why Latin American players would want / need to play at home during the Winter.
Rip Repulski, in addition to having a great name, is from Sauk Rapids, MN.
I also got the pleasure of digging through Minnie Minoso's files at the Hall of Fame - I didn't know about him being beaned while playing for St. Louis in the early 60s. There were several articles that wondered if he would play again, or if he did whether he'd be same player he was. There were several photos of him in the hospital bed, with his wife by his side. There were also several articles from the early 1990s about his attempt to get one more at bat for the White Sox - different editorials that took both sides of the issue.
The more things change - the more they stay the same. Gene Conley had the same photo used for both 1954 and 1956. At 6 foot 8 inches, he was for a time the tallest player to ever play Major League baseball. He's since been surpassed by the soon to be inducted to the Hall of Fame Randy Johnson, and 6'11" Jon Rauch. The Twins also had an even taller pitcher in their minor leagues recently, Loek Van Mil, who stands 7'1". He might still be playing professionally somewhere, but he's not in the Twins org anymore. (The Angels, maybe?)
The oldest card I own! This card is even older than the Hall of Fame itself!
and the Title for oldest card changes hands again! This is a 1919 Strip Card. The Jefferson Burdick designation is W514. The card is roughly the size of a Tobacco card (think T206), and originally came in an uncut strip that was sold at candy stores. Cactus Cravath (aka Gavvy Cravath) was the one I specifically wanted. Cravath's T206 card features him as a member of the minor league Minneapolis Millers.
From an Article for SABR by Bill Swank:
In an era when "inside baseball" ruled supreme, Cravath bucked the trend and preached what he practiced. "Short singles are like left-hand jabs in the boxing ring, but a home run is a knock-out punch," he asserted. "It is the clean-up man of the club that does the heavy scoring work even if he is wide in the shoulders and slow on his feet. There is no advice I can give in batting, except to hammer the ball. Some players steal bases with hook slides and speed. I steal bases with my bat."
That's really cool.
I found all of these (and some more) at one store in Cooperstown. Most of the stores were marked up heavily for the tourist crowd, and most of the prices on the cards under glass were well beyond what I would expect to pay for cards at local shows. In spite of that, This store had very reasonable prices on vintage singles and I was able to negotiate a little mark down on price for buying in bulk.
