3 More Allen & Ginter Cards Needed! (Valley Forge Report)

1933 Goudey #115

1934-36 Diamond Stars #15

1936 S and S Game

1940 Play Ball #216

My son Doug and I had a free Sunday afternoon, so we decided to head to Valley Forge for the September "Philly Show".  Doug's fall baseball schedule meant we couldn't get to the show on Saturday to meet Roy Halladay, and we only had a few hours on Sunday, but once again we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  We met up this time with Doug's friends Jacob and Josh and their Dad Chris, Doug's baseball coach.

The three younger collectors had a blast exploring the show floor and adding to their collections. Doug needs just three more cards to complete his 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter set (see below) thanks to All-Star Sports Cards (@Allstarsports09).  He spent the rest of his allowance money tracking down cool Phillies cards and adding to his growing Mike Trout collection.  We were there as the dealers were packing up, and one dealer unloaded three binders of complete Topps sets on the three boys. Doug came away with a 1988 Topps set and he hasn't stopped smiling about it yet.  It's the oldest complete set in his collection, and he'll be forever grateful to the dealer who gave it to him for free! (I believe Jacob and Josh came away with 1990 and 1992 Topps sets, respectively.)

As for me, I chipped away at my 1971 Topps set, adding the Robero Clemente and Don Baylor/Dusty Baker rookie card to my collection.  I also picked up a number of semi-stars and high numbers, getting the number of cards I need to complete the set down to 59.

1957 Topps #158

1970 Topps #403

1971 Topps #511

1975 Topps #399

I also made a small dent in my 1950s, 1960s and 1970s Phillies team set needs, creeping closer to my goal of owning a complete run of Topps Phillies cards.  Finally, I added a quartet of Phillies cards from the 1930s and 1940s, meaning I probably need to break down and change my 1930s Phillies have list post to an actual want list post.

We didn't get there in time to meet any of the autograph signers, but I overheard that Rhys Hoskins is expected to be one of the signers at the next Valley Forge show in December. We'll be there!

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Here are the three 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter cards Doug needs to complete his set.  Please let me know if you can help out!

165 - Jayson Stark
301 - Trey Mancini
336 - Kenley Jansen

Memory Lane

Valley Forge 1 - September 2010 - Thinking of my Dad
Valley Forge 2 - October 2012 - Doug's first baseball card show
Valley Forge 3 - September 2014 - Meeting Darren Daulton
Valley Forge 4 - September 2016 - Phillies acquisitions and 4 Phillies Legends
Valley Forge 5 - December 2016 - Meeting Don Money
Valley Forge 6 - September 2017

1940 Play Ball Phillies - Part 2

1940 Play Ball #99, #100 and #101

Presented here are the next three 1940 Play Ball Phillies cards that entered my collection recently via the "Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim" Christmas tradition, courtesy of my Mom.

Sylvester Johnson enjoyed a 19-year big league career between 1922 and 1940, playing his final 7 seasons with the Phillies.  The back of his Play Ball card lists his position as "pitcher-coach," as Johnson was mainly a pitching coach with the Phils from 1939 to 1941.  The righty went 36-51 over 211 games with the Phillies.

I did a write-up on Hershel Martin a few years ago when I obtained his 1939 Play Ball card.

Infielder Del Young appeared in 309 games with the Phillies between 1937 and 1940, hitting .224.  I also have Young's 1939 Play Ball card in my collection.

1940 Play Ball Phillies - Part 1

1940 Play Ball #98, #97, #96 and #95

As part of the "Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim" haul, my Mom added seven Phillies cards from the 1940 Play Ball set to my collection.  I'll feature the first four here.

The 1940 Play Ball set (designated R335 by Jefferson Burdick) contains 240 cards - 15 of which are current and former Phillies.  14,000 Phillies has a nice write-up on the set within its Phillies Database.  I now just need seven cards - including cards of Hall of Famers Chuck Klein and Grover Cleveland Alexander - to complete the Phillies team set.  All four players featured here were also World War II veterans.

This is the third card of "Pinky" May in my collection and the second card of May's added as part of my amazing Christmas haul.

"Morry" or "Morrie" Arnovich came up with the Phillies in 1936 and played outfield with the team until his trade to the Reds in June 1940.  His best season was the 1939 campaign, when he made the All-Star team and hit .324 with 5 home runs and 67 RBIs.

My six-year-old son, Doug, was very amused at Emmett Jerome Mueller's nickname - "Heinie."  Mueller played his entire four-year career with the Phillies between 1938 and 1941.  Primarily a second baseman, Mueller appeared in 441 games with the Phils, hitting .253 with 17 home runs.  I have both Arnovich's and Mueller's cards from the 1939 Play Ball set.

Finally, Gum, Inc. was kind not to include Hugh Mulcahy's more well known nickname, "Losing Pitcher," on his card.  So named because of his 42-82 record with the Phillies over the first six years of his career, Mulcahy was the first Major Leaguer to be drafted during World War II in March 1941.