26. "Turkey" Stearnes

Unlike today, baseball didn't stop after the World Series. As soon as the season ended, the most talented professional ballplayers followed the warm weather south to Cuba and Puerto Rico or west to California. Starting at the beginning of the twentieth century Southern California had a thriving integrated league featuring pros from the white and black major leagues. Bonafide stars like Babe Herman, Walter Johnson, Kiki Cuyler, Ted Williams, Jimmy Foxx, Bob Meusel played against the great black stars Bullet Joe Rogan, Biz Mackey, Satchel Paige, Chet Brewer and Turkey Stearnes. During the league's heyday of the late 1920's the all-black Los Angeles Royal Giants dominated the league. The Giants hitters pounded the white pitching and the Giants hurlers smoked the white batters. Blacks were barred from playing in most of the ballparks around Los Angeles so White Sox Park was built specifically for them. Located near Fourth and Anderson Streets fans of all colors showed up to see the best baseball available west of the Mississippi. Although the league was integrated at a time when blacks were being lynched in the south and non-whites were barred from many beaches along the California coast, surprisingly few incidents of racism occurred on the field or in the stands. The spectacle of darn good baseball transcended any sense of racial superiority or inequality.

One of the greatest players of any hue to play in Southern California was Norman "Turkey" Stearnes. In nine years of coming west surviving box scores show he hit for a .373 average and hit 44 homers in 754 at bats.

Stearnes got his unique nickname from the awkward, flailing way he ran the bases, described by fans as looking like a “hunted turkey”. Six foot tall with powerful shoulders, Stearnes was a star centerfielder during the 1920’s and 30’s. He was also a fast runner and led the Negro National League in both triples and stolen bases on a few occasions. Like many other players of his time, he was not shy about sliding into a base with spikes high and his aggressive play became his trademark. He often batted leadoff because of his speed and he was the consummate team player. Talking about his home runs he said "If it didn't win a game, it didn't matter." He was elected to four all-star games, batted over .400 three times and led his league in home runs seven times. Although Stearnes was a quiet and modest man his fans and players understood his value as a player and he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2000.

24. Billy Martin

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I hate the Yankees. In fact I am a third generation Yankee hater. That out of the way, you might be wondering why the heck I would produce a card of the ultimate Yankee, Billy Martin. Respect, that's why. As much as I can't stand the team that he has come to represent, I have to admire his grit and determination as a player. There are some players who just have that natural talent for the game like Ken Griffey, Jr, Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth. And then there are those other players that seem to get by on sheer will, pouring everything they have into the way they play the game making it seem like they are playing for their life and will do anything to win. Pete Rose comes to mind as does Eddie Stanky and Ryan Freel. These were guys who may not have been the best fielder or the best hitter. They may not have been the fastest or the biggest. They did however always seem to find a way to beat you. Billy Martin is one of these guys and love him or hate him, it is for that reason he belongs in The Infinite Baseball Card Set.

Billy Martin was brought up in the slums of Berkley, California during the depression made all that more grim when his father, always referred to as "The Jackass" by his mother, abandoned the family. An ugly and awkward kid Martin had to grow up tough in his rough neighborhood and he was reputed to be the leader of a local gang. Sports became his way out of the hood and he excelled at both baseball and basketball at Berkley High School. Oakland of the Pacific Coast League signed him upon graduation and after 2 years on their farm teams he made the Oaks at the end of the 1947 Season.

When Billy Martin joined the team it was primarily made up of older veteran players. They took a liking to the feisty young player and dubbed him “The Kid”. Casey Stengel was the manager at the time and while today he is thought of as a kindly, grandfatherly figure he was actually a rough player and a proponent of the old school way of playing the game and winning by any means necessary. He was able to channel all of Martin's inner rage towards the Oaks' opponents and Stengel encouraged his young protege to needle the other team's players. Martin ably replaced the Oaks veteran second baseman Dario Lodigiani when he was injured early in the 1948 season and later also filled in at shortstop and third base providing a valuable utility role during the Oaks championship season. When Stengel became Yankee manager in 1949 he made sure “The Kid” followed. As the manager of The New York Yankees he was expected to win and what better insurance is there than having Billy Martin on your team.

23. Alexander Cartwright

Today is Opening Day. Unlike New Years Day or my birthday, I always look upon the first day of the baseball season as my mark of another year gone by and the hopeful beginning of another. This past year, or season, had been a tough one, the big crushing blow being the sudden death of my Father in September. Today is a day that had a special meaning for my father and I, the beginning of months of friendly banter about how our favorite teams are doing, how much we both hated the Yankees and who we thought would go all the way. But this year I am left alone on this day, and I face a long season without my best friend. What I wouldn't give for one more catch with my Pop or one more minor league New Jersey Cardinals afternoon game or just one more quick phone call to talk about last night's game. But today is Opening Day, the beginning of a new year, one that always brings the possibility of great things, where it matters only what you do this season, where past failures and disappointments are forgotten and the future is up to you.

So today, Opening day, I bring you the man who probably did more than anyone else in making baseball the great game it is today. Although most think of baseball as a sport played out in the country in idyllic settings, the game as we know it actually came from the crowded streets of Lower Manhattan. Back in the 1830's and 40's successful businessmen who had always lived above or behind their businesses began to move away from their shops into the less crowded suburbs and the young men who worked for them as apprentices and clerks now had many free and unsupervised hours of leisure time at their disposal. Many joined volunteer fire companies that served the dual purpose of serving the community and providing a fashionable club environment. It was while a member of The Knickerbocker Fire Company that Alexander Cartwright learned the game of base-ball.

When he could no longer find enough open space for his team to play in Manhattan, bank clerk and volunteer fireman Alexander Cartwright formed The New York Knickerbocker Base-Ball Club. The exclusive club charged a $5 initiation fee with annual dues of $2, the proceeds going towards the rental of Elysian Fields, a grassy tree-lined park across the Hudson River in Hoboken, N.J. Cartwright had a keen interest in writing down a set of universally accepted rules for a game that had many different incarnations depending on where it was played. The distance between bases, number of fielders and most importantly batters need to be tagged out and not simply hit with the ball. The first real game of baseball was played at Elysian Fields in 1846 and Cartwright left New York in 1849 to seek his fortune in California and spread the game where ever he stopped including his final home, Hawaii.

Happy Opening Day to everyone, and I wish you all the best of seasons!

22. Bullet Joe Rogan

The legend goes like this: A low-level barnstorming team of white minor league ballplayers wearily traveling through the American south-west pull up at a desolate, hot and dusty army post somewhere on the Arizona-Mexico border. The baseball team on this forgotten outpost turns out to be one of the greatest teams the young outfielder of the traveling white team has ever seen, especially a pitcher and catcher named Rogan. He mentally notes the names of the players and when he finally arrives back in his home town of Kansas City all he can do is talk about the great ballplayers he has seen. Unfortunately the great players he has witnessed were all black and the year is 1919. The only man in Kansas City who will listen to young Casey Stengel is J.L. Wilkinson, owner of the all-black Kansas City Monarchs. On his word Wilkinson hires 5 players Casey saw after they are discharged from the Army. These players go on to form the core of the great Monarch teams of the 1920's and 30's.

Makes a great story, but is it true? Not really. Stengel may have played against Rogan and his 25th Infantry Regiment team in Arizona but details are sketchy. Did he recommend the army ballplayers to Wilkinson? Maybe, but Joe Rogan, the pitcher and catcher that Stengel was especially amazed with was actually from Kansas City and had already played for a team owned by Wilkinson back in 1917 while on leave from the service. Chances are Rogan contacted Wilkinson or the other way around and Rogan brought along his other teammates to Kansas City. Black newspapers occasionally ran stories about the black Army baseball teams and Rogan and the 25th Infantry team was fairly well known by 1919. Whatever the truth behind the legend may be, Bullet Joe Rogan became one of the greatest players in history. He was an overpowering and smart pitcher who also hit for power. When ranking ballplayers, I always throw the great Babe Ruth out there to end the discussion for the simple fact that besides being the spectacular hitter he was, the first 5 years of his career was spent as a pitcher and not only did he pitch but he was the best left-hander in baseball. To me that versatility trumps anything any other player can boast and there is only one other player who had that kind of sheer talent, Joe Rogan. Unfortunately his color kept him from competing in the major leagues but we can piece together from the records available that he was every bit as talented as Ruth when it comes to pitching and his hitting became legendary all across the country wherever the Monarchs played ball.

In 1910 Joe Rogan joined the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment and served in the Philippine Islands where he became legendary for his catching and pitching for the regimental team. Discharged in 1914 he soon re-enlisted again, this time with the 25th Infantry at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii which had a powerful ballclub known as the Wreckers. While there he shut out the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League on 3 hits, struck out 13 and hit a double. In 1918 the regiment moved to Camp Little on the Arizona-Mexico border and the team continued its winning record with Sergeant Rogan of the machine gun company credited with an incredible 52 wins in one season. In 1920 Rogan, along with teammates Dobie Moore, Bob Fagan, Oscar Johnson, Hurly McNair and Lem Hawkins went onto form the nucleus of the Kansas City Monarchs, one of the most powerful negro league teams.

Requests?

I really appreciate all the emails from you guys who enjoy what I am doing here and from time to time I'm asked if I take requests. Sure, why not? So, if you have a player you really want to see, drop me a line at info@cieradkowskidesign.com and tell me who you think should be part of The Infinite Baseball Card Set. I can't promise I will draw it up any time soon, but I'd like to see who YOU want! Keep checking in, I may have an announcement in the next couple of weeks regarding real limited edition sets of cards available...

20. Lefty Grove

Back when there were only 16 major league teams and all were located east of the Mississippi River, the minor leagues were often a baseball fan's only option to see professional baseball. During the 1910's and 20's most minor league teams were unaffiliated with major league teams and because of this autonomy were able to keep players longer than just a year or two like today. The Baltimore Orioles were in the International League, arguably the highest and most professional of the minor leagues. Owned by Jack Dunn the Orioles created a powerful dynasty starting in 1919 that saw the O's win 7 straight league championships. It got to the point where in 1923 the other International League team owners forced Dunn to start selling off some of his players to the majors or else they would all sign a contract with major league baseball giving them the right to purchase any player at a flat fee. They were willing to sell short their profits rather than continue to keep losing to Baltimore! How good was the Orioles of the early twenties? Maybe not as great as the Yankees or the Giants, but they were certainly able to compete with the lower ranked major league teams at the time. Baltimore would often play exhibition games against major league all-star teams and win, so they were definitely up there in the talent department. Those Oriole teams had some great players back then, most of whom were eventually sold off to the Philadelphia Athletics, forming the nucleus of their dynasty of the late twenties and early thirties. George Earnshaw, Joe Boley, Max Bishop, Jack Bentley, Tommy Thomas, and others all went to the majors. The pitching on those teams were amazing, John Ogden going 31-8 in 1921, Jim Parnham winning 33 games in 1923, Tommy Thomas winning 32 in 1925 and of course the unrivaled Lefty Grove who lead the league in strike outs for 4 years in a row.

Signed by the independent Baltimore Orioles in 1920, Lefty Groves became a starter the next season and led the International League in strikeouts for the next four years. He quickly became an integral part of the great Baltimore Oriole dynasty and the team finished in first place every year he played with them. Oriole owner Jack Dunn refused to sell Grove to a major league team until after the 1924 season when he made the Philadelphia Athletics pay a record $100,500 for his services. It was around this time Lefty dropped the “s” at the end of his last name because newspaper sportswriters continually used “Grove” instead of “Groves”.

Anyone wanting to learn more about the Baltimore Orioles from 1903 to 1953 should pick up a copy of Jimmy Keenan's book called "The Lystons" about his grandfather who played on the 1921 Orioles and is a great narrative of the minor leagues and semi-pro circuit during the 1920's. Available at www.keenanbaseball.com

18. Overton Tremper

Overton who? Overton Tremper, that's who. Never heard of him? Well, don't feel so bad, unless you lived in Brooklyn in the 1930's chances are you would have never heard of him or his team, the Bushwicks of Brooklyn. Back during the 1920's up until the advent of televised games in the 1950's semi-pro baseball was a big thing for many parts of the country where there was no chance of seeing a real major league game in person. Thousands of real talented teams sprung up all over the land and most major league players began their careers playing for teams like the Bushwicks. Semi-pro teams were also a place where over-the-hill major leaguers could wring a few extra dollars more out of their career before retiring from the game. Grover Cleveland Alexander, Rogers Hornsby and Dazzy Vance are 3 Hall of Famers who did just that. But the Brooklyn Bushwicks were a little bit better than most semi-pro outfits. Owner Max Rosner put lots of money into his team and even had their own stadium, Dexter Park. Teams travelled far and wide to challenge the Bushwicks, more often than not returning in defeat but slightly richer as Dexter Park regularly drew crowds of 12,000 during its heyday. The Bushwicks battles with the best negro league teams were legendary and real big league stars often stopped by to play a game or two with the "Kandy Kids" as they were known for their blue and orange uniforms. Dazzy Vance, Babe Ruth, Joe Dimaggio all played games for the Bushwicks and a young college kid, Lou Gehrig tried out but failed to make the team. But the regular roster players, such as Overton Tremper, were as equally well known and idolized.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in economics, Tremper played parts of 2 seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers before being sent down to the minors. Deciding that it wasn’t the lifestyle he wanted he returned to Brooklyn where he became a high school teacher. On weekends and nights from 1931 to 1934, Tremper was the star outfielder for the semi-pro powerhouse Brooklyn Bushwicks who played major league caliber baseball against all levels of teams. Many ballplayers were actually able to earn more money playing for the Bushwicks than they could playing in the majors as well as having a regular paycheck from their day job. Many major league stars played for or against the Bushwicks and their games against the best negro league teams were legendary. Tremper later earned a master's in education from N.Y.U. in 1938 and coached various semi-pro teams on Long Island. He died in 1996.

17. Jackie Robinson

It often happens that an historical figure gets so obscured by their own fame that we fail to truly see and appreciate the things that made them so famous in the first place. Jackie Robinson falls into that category. Sure, his famous number 42 is officially retired on all major league teams and everyone celebrates him every season. But man, if you really look closely at Jackie Robinson, you get acquainted with a talented, brave, complicated man the likes of which no other country than America can produce. This was a guy who put human nature aside and kept his mouth shut when confronted with the worst slights and actions ignorant racist fans and players could throw at him. It was his sheer will that enabled blacks to get back into organized baseball and it was on Jackie's broad shoulders that the cause for civil rights was brought forward by leaps and bounds. I can't think of anyone that had more of a direct impact on civil rights than this man. In the course of maybe 3 years he brought blacks into American homes that were once kept negligent of them. In a precious few short years it became alright for a white boy to have as his sports idol a black man and for once a black boy growing up in America could look upon Jackie Robinson and know that with the right amount of talent and drive he too could become a major league ballplayer. Or anything else for that matter. America was taught that people of all color could sit together in one place without rioting and a person of color is just as talented as a white man. In today's day and age it is hard to relate to the way people thought back then. Jackie had to overcome things like his manager in Montreal saying that he wasn't even sure a negro was a human being or opposing players in Baltimore releasing a black cat onto the field to taunt him. In those few years Jackie bore all that weight and pressure and in turn changed the mindset and outlook of both his fellow players and fans. Clay Hopper, his Montreal manager later became instrumental in bringing up and tutoring black ballplayers in the Dodger organization. Southerners like Pee Wee Reese had their eyes opened to the racism Robinson had to endure and came to his side as a friend. I don't know, I could go on forever singing the praises of this man and what he did for this country of ours and how sometime everyone should sit back and thank God we have men like Jackie Robinson. As my tribute to this giant of a man, I give you Jackie Robinson in his first season of organized baseball playing for the Montreal Royals of the International League.

Signed by Brooklyn, Jackie Robinson spent 1946 with the Dodgers’ AAA minor league team, the Montreal Royals and on April 18, 1946 in Jersey City, N.J. Jackie Robinson became the first black ballplayer in the 20th century to play in organized baseball. He promptly went 4 for 5, including a three-run home run, scored four runs, drove in three, and stole two bases. Overcoming immense racial pressure, Jackie won over his teammates and fans with his natural physical ability and immense drive to win. Sparked by his play the Montreal Royals won the International League Championship and then went on to beat Louisville in the Little World Series of 1946. Through his sheer determination Jackie Robinson paved the way for the desegregation of the Major Leagues.

7. Bill Sayles

In tribute to the spirit of the Olympics going on now in Canada we have Bill Sayles, member of the 1936 U.S. Olympic Baseball Team. Although baseball was first showcased at the 1912 Games, 1936 was the first organized team specifically made up of real ballplayers. Tryouts were held in Baltimore and 12 amateur ballplayers were selected. They were later augmented by a few more ex-collegiate players and the team sailed to Berlin in August 1936. Originally the idea was for the U.S. team to play a team from Japan but the latter pulled out before the games started. The U.S. team was split into 2 teams, the home team called the "Weltmeisters" or "World Champions" and the visiting team called the "U.S.A. Olympics". In the week leading up to the exhibition game newspaper articles were printed and clinics were held demonstrating the finer points of the National Pastime. On the evening of August 12, 1936 the 2 teams took the field before over 100,000 spectators. After 7 innings of play, Weltmeister player Les McNeece hit a home run breaking the 5-5 tie to win the game. The crowd which had steadily dwindled over the course of the game politely applauded and the first Olympic baseball game ended. The International Olympic Committee agreed to feature Baseball in the 1940 Tokyo Games and 16 nations were slated to compete but the second world war put a stop to that. The sport was not to make another Olympic appearance until 1984.

Bill Sayles. This University of Oregon graduate travelled to Baltimore for the Olympic Team tryouts and was picked to represent the U.S.A. at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. A fireballing right-hander with a reputation for wildness, Sayles was the pitcher for the Weltmeister (German for “World Champions”) team. He faced off against another team made of fellow Americans called “Olympics.” In front of over 100,000 spectators Sayles gave up 11 hits and 5 runs but held for 7 innings to be the winning pitcher after Les McNeece hit the game winning home run. Despite being a popular exhibition, baseball failed to catch on as an Olympic sport. Bill Sayles returned to the United Stated and was signed by the Boston Red Sox. He went on to play for Red Sox, Giants and Dodgers. He later became a scout for the Cardinals and died in Lincoln City, Oregon in 1996.

5. Pete Hill

One of the reasons I started this project is that I always thought it unfair that so many great players never got their own baseball card during their careers. The negro league players are the perfect example of this. Take Pete Hill. Probably one of the greatest outfielders of the dead ball era before the first world war and he has no American cards showing him in his prime.

Pete Hill was the complete ballplayer, an excellent fielder and a hard hitter who rarely struck out. He was most compared to Ty Cobb for his natural ability and fiery play. Hill played for some of the greatest early negro teams including the Philadelphia Giants from 1904 to 1907 and the Leland Giants from 1907 to 1910. He also played six winters in Cuba. With Rube Foster’s American Giants in 1911 Pete hit safely in 115 of 116 games and he won the Cuban batting title that same year with a .365 batting average. Hill was named captain of the American Giants and Rube Foster considered him his "field general" and a second manager. He left Chicago in 1919 and took over as manager of the Detroit Stars, where he was credited with a .391 average in 1921. He finished up his career in 1925 as the player-manager of the powerful Baltimore Black Sox. Pete Hill died in Buffalo in 1953.