Tuesday, April 26, 2011

1924 Diaz Cigarettes

This set is one of the most unique pre-WWII card sets. The entire set consists of pitchers. That is rare all by itself, for a card set of this time period, but what escalates the set further is that it was made in Havana, Cuba.

Some of the pitchers depicted in the set never made it into the majors, but the majority did. These black and white cards were printed on semi-gloss cardboard stock. A banner at the top proclaims the team affiliation. The example of Red Faber is difficult to discern the top banner because the background color is so similar to the banner color. The banner at the bottom lists the name (no nicknames) and position.

The set, as it is known to exist, is made up of 136 cards. 136 have been accounted for, over the years, but examples of each are rare. In some cases, only one example of a card is known to exist. This makes keeping a pictorial record of each card next to impossible. The number of cards that the White Sox are known to have is currently at eight cards.

10 – Urban Faber
13 – Hollis Thurston
33 – Gorham Leverett
50 – Ted Lyons
94 – Mike Cvengros
101 – Ted Blankenship
109 – Joubert Davenport
123 – Charles Robertson

Surprisingly, all eight players have made it to the majors and have played for the White Sox at some point in their careers. Some fans will know the players better by their nicknames; Red Faber, Sloppy Thurston and Dixie Leverett. Joubert Davenport went by his middle name, Lum.

Mike Cvengros played for three years with the White Sox, but he also played for the Giants and Pirates and finished his MLB career with the crosstown Cubs. He finished his playing career in 1938 with the Class D Abbeville A's in the Evangeline League. Ted Blankenship played nine seasons in the majors, all with the White Sox. Charlie Robertson threw the first perfect game in White Sox history.

This is a very good representation of pitchers of this era for the White Sox in this set. Good luck tracking these down!

1 comment:

Matthew Glidden said...

No kidding, that set's bedeviling! Quite a concept, publishing something with nothing but pitchers...

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