1930-1939 Phillies Want List

1933 Goudey #210

1936 Goudey #5

1934-36 Diamond Stars #80

In April 2012, I published a 1930-1939 Phillies Have List, indicating that I had 12 Phillies cards from the 1930s and "if and when this list ever grows, I'll put together a proper want list."

Five and a half years later, the time for that proper want list has arrived, as I've now accumulated 36 Phillies baseball cards, postcards and matchbooks from the decade of the Great Depression.  Here's a listing of the Phillies cards from the 1930s already in my collection, and cards I hope to one day add.

1931 W517 - #10 Klein, #15 Alexander, #18 Williams, #33 O'Doul
1931-32 Exhibits Four-in-One (W463-2) - #11 Klein/Whitney/Benge/Arlett, #12 McCurdy/Friberg/Bartell/Hurst

1933 Butter Cream (R306) - Klein
1933 Delong (R333) - #22 Klein
1933 Exhibits Four-in-One (W463-3) - #6 Klein/Benge/Bartell/Hurst
1933 George C. Miller (R300) - #4 Bartell, #20 Klein

1933 Goudey
Have - #21 Collins, #28 Bartell, #38 Brickell, #115 Heathcote, #132 Elliott, #136 Rhem, #170 McGurdy, #178 Warner, #210 Davis
Need - #128 Klein

1933 Tattoo Orbit (R305) - Whitney
1933 U.S. Caramel - #21 Klein
1933 Uncle Jacks Candy - Klein
1933 World Wide Gum (V353) - #21 Collins, #28 Bartell, #38 Brickell

1934 Diamond Matchbooks (Silver Border)
Have - Bartell, Chiozza, Collins, Elliott, Fullis, Hendrick, Wilson
Need - Allen, Hansen, Oana, Schulmerich

1934 Exhibits Four-in-One (W463-4) - #6 Wilson/Schulmerich/Bartell/Hurst

1934 Goudey
Have Complete Set - #33 Hurst, #55 Holley, #87 Darrow, #91 Camilli

1934 Goudey World Wide Gum (V354) - #6 Elliott, #7 Lucas, #9 Heathcote, #80 Hurst

1934 Butterfinger Premiums (R310)
Have - #33 Holley, #65 Wilson
Need - #2 Bartell, #27 Grabowski

1934-36 Batter-Up (R318)
Have - #38 Wilson
Need - #4 Bartell, #74 Fullis, #76 Allen, #104 Haslin, #150 Camilli, #176 Vergez, #185 Klein

1934-36 Diamond Stars (R327)
Have - #15 Bartell, #22 Wilson, #40 Ryan, #41 Hendrick, #80 Chiozza, #92 Allen
Need - #21 Vergez (Phillies variation with green back)

1935 Diamond Matchbooks
Have - Klein, Wilson
Need - Allen, Chiozza

1935 Exhibits Four-in-One (W463-5) - #9 Wilson/Collins/Ryan/Watkins
1935 Goudey 4-in-1 (R321) - Have - Allen/Brickell/Jonnard/Wilson
1935-36 Diamond Matchbooks - Allen, Chiozza, Hansen, Kleinhans, Moore, Wilson
1935-37 George Burke Photo Stamps - Fletcher, Klein, Passeau
1936 Diamond Matchbooks - Klein
1936 Exhibits Four-in-One (W463-6) - #6 Wilson/Davis/Camilli/Moore
1936 Goudey - Have - #5 Camilli
1936 Goudey Wide Pen Premiums - #A1 Allen, #A13 Camilli, #A24 Davis, #A41 Grace, #A107 Walters
1936 National Chicle Pastels (R312) - Camilli

1936 National Chicle Fine Pen Premiums (R313)
Have - #20 Camilli, #21 Camilli/Jurges, #46 Gomez, #112 Whitney
Need - #84 Moore/Wilson

1936 S and S Game (WG8)
Have - Camilli
Need - Klein

1936 World Wide Gum (V355) - #61 Walters, #99 Wilson, #103 Grace
1937 Exhibits Four-in-One (W463-7) - #6 Whitney/Walters/Camilli/Moore
1938 Exhibits Four-in-One (W463-8) - #6 Whitney/Walters/Klein/Arnovich
1939 Father & Son Shoes - #1 Arnovich, #5 Davis, #8 Klein, #9 Martin, #10 May, #12 Mueller, #13 Mulcahy, #15 Passeau, #16 Scharein

1939 Play Ball
Have Complete Set - #12 Martin, #28 Johnson, #33 Young, #37 Davis, #45 May, #46 Arnovich, #63 Mueller, #98 Whitney, #127 Brack, #145 Mulcahy

1920-1929 Phillies Want List / 1940-1949 Phillies Want List

1939 Play Ball - Phillies Team Set

I recently put the finishing touches on a complete 1939 Play Ball Phillies team set, adding the card of Hugh "Losing Pitcher" Mulcahy to my collection.  I thought it would be cool to present the entire 10-card team set here with a brief blurb on each player's Phillies career.

The 1939 Phillies have the distinction of being one of the worst teams in franchise history, finishing with a .298 (45-106) won/loss percentage and eclipsing the 105 losses suffered by the 1938 Phillies team.

#12 Hershel Martin

#28 Sylvester Johnson

#33 Del Young

#37 Virgil Davis

#45 Merrill May

#46 Morris Arnovich

#63 Emmett Mueller

#98 Pinky Whitney

#127 Gil Brack

#145 Hugh Mulcahy

#12 Hershel Martin - One of the regular outfielders for the 1939 Phillies, Martin hit .282 in 111 games for the club that season.  I wrote about Martin in this post, and I also featured a color picture of the 1938 club's blue and yellow uniforms.  I also have Martin's 1940 Play Ball card in my collection and I featured it in a post along with the next two players listed below.

#28 Sylvester Johnson - Johnson was at the end of his 19-year career in 1939, and he served as the team's pitching coach that season as well as appearing in 22 games.  Johnson pitched in three World Series games for the 1931 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.

#33 Del Young - Infielder Young appeared in 309 games with the Phillies between 1937 and 1940, hitting .224.

#37 Virgil Davis - "Spud" Davis was the Phillies regular catcher from 1930 to 1933 before escaping to the Cardinals and Reds for 4 1/2 seasons.  He'd come back to the Phils in 1938 and in 1939 he'd hit .307 in 87 games.  I published a more detailed post on Davis' career six years ago when I originally picked up his 1939 Play Ball card.

#45 Merrill May - 1939 was third baseman "Pinky" May's rookie season in the Majors.  I published a detailed look at May's career in this post from August 2009.  I also have cards of his in my collection from the 1940 Play Ball and 1941 Double Play sets.

#46 Morris Arnovich - Outfielder Arnovich was the club's leading hitter in 1939 with a .324 batting average and he was also the lone Phillies representative at the 1939 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium.  I previously featured Arnovich's 1940 Play Ball card in this post.

#63 Emmett Mueller - "Heinie" Mueller played his entire four-year career with the Phillies between 1938 and 1941 before serving in World War II.  He hit a home run in his first big league at-bat off the Brooklyn Dodgers' Van Lingle Mungo.

#98 Pinky Whitney - One of the greatest third basemen in franchise history, 1939 was the 12th and final year of Whitney's big-league career.  I wrote about Whitney in this post, and his daughter (or relative) left a comment about Whitney being a wonderful father.

#127 Gil Brack - Baseball Reference lists Brack as "Gibby" Brack, and the outfielder spent two seasons with the Phillies in 1938 and 1939.  In 163 games with the Phils, Brack hit .288 with 10 home runs and 69 RBIs.  After his playing days were over, Brack was employed as a steel worker and unfortunately he met a tragic end.

#145 Hugh Mulcahy - Mulcahy started more games (32) than any other pitcher for the 1939 Phillies, going 9-16 with a 4.99 ERA.  As I wrote when I posted his 1940 Play Ball card, Mulcahy earned the "Losing Pitcher" nickname by going 42-82 with the Phillies over the first six years of his career.  He was the first Major Leaguer to be drafted to serve during World War II, and he'd miss four seasons (1941-1944) serving his country.

1939 Play Ball #37 Virgil Lawrence Davis

I’m starting to notice a trend here with the pre-1950s Phillies baseball cards I’ve added to my collection. Players of the ‘30s and ‘40s had much cooler nicknames than what we get today. So far I’ve featured Dutch and Pinky, and this post will show off Spud. (We like names like Wily Mo and Jo Jo, but it's not the same.)

Virgil “Spud” Davis spent 16 seasons in the Majors with the Cardinals (1928 and 1934-1936 as a member of the Gashouse Gang), Phillies (1928-1933 and 1938-1939), Reds (1937-1938) and the Pirates (1940-1941 and 1944-1945). He was the Phils’ starting catcher through most of the decade of the ‘30s. A career .308 hitter, Spud finished in the top 10 of the National League batting average leaders in 1931, 1932 and 1933 – finishing second to teammate Chuck Klein for the ’33 batting title. His career average is currently good enough for 118th on the all-time list. Not bad for a catcher nicknamed Spud. (I love the origin of his nickname, as told by the back of this card.)

Following his playing career, Spud served as an interim manager for the Pirates for 3 games in 1946 and he coached with the Cubs from 1950 to 1953. Spud passed away in 1984 in the city where he was born, Birmingham, Alabama.

Still Not as Interesting as Rob Ducey: But interesting nevertheless, Spud was traded twice for the same player – fellow catcher Jimmie Wilson. In May 1928, the Cardinals traded Spud to the Phillies for Wilson. Five and half years later, in November 1933, the two teams swapped catchers again with Spud going back to his original team.

All-Time Best Catcher?: Spud is included in the 1986 TCMA All-Time Phillies Greats set (a set currently on my wantlist) as the franchise’s best catcher. Bob Boone couldn’t be reached for comment for this post.