"The Frenchman" and Joe Birmingham

    Being a Cleveland Indians fan in Cleveland growing up in the 1990s meant that I could rattle off every player on the 1995 roster including names like Alvaro Espinoza, Wayne Kirby, & Ruben Amaro.  It also meant I could tell you about other Cleveland Baseball Heroes from yesteryear like Feller and Boudreau, Lemon and Rosen (who were part of the last great playoff run teams) or even names further back like Averill and Harder.  But one name that I always gravitated towards growing up was Lajoie.  I have always assumed it was because much like my Polish surname "Maciag" people seem to struggle with the French name "Lajoie" and how to spell and pronounce it.

    Fast-forward a few years to the early 2000s after our move to a small town (Marietta, OH), I discovered a local baseball card shop, aptly named "Marietta baseball card shop".  It was here that I would spend many hours and many hard earn paper-route dollars as a young teenager.  One of my favorite purchases to this day is a 1913 (WG5) National Game Nap Lajoie & Joe Birmingham playing cards.



Much like the 1951 Topps that would come out years later this designed as a card game and not as a trading card as we know them today.  They were part of a 52 card deck, with 43 of the cards specifically highlighting players. Card measure 3-1/2"x2-1/2" with rounded corners and have "Pat. March 25, 1913" printed on the back. There are many HOF players represented in this set from Home Run Baker to Chief Bender to Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner.

As far as Cleveland players are concerned this set boasts four; Lajoie, Birmingham, Vean Gregg, and Joe Jackson. One day maybe I'll get my hand on the Gregg and Jackson, but for now I'm happy I was able to grab these two when I could. 

You can check out the full checklist here at TCDB.





Comments

  1. JonAugust 14, 2023 at 9:44 PM

    Hey... a new blog!

    You certainly bought those at the right time, as I have no doubt that they'd cost you many times more these days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ZachAugust 15, 2023 at 8:38 PM

      Thanks for the view and comment. Indo feel fortunate for all the vintage cards I was able to buy from him back then, as they would all cost me immensely more today.

      Delete

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