For any of you who were around for the golden age of baseball card blogging (peace be unto you) you may remember San Jose Fuji asking a question:
My response was to show the various pets my wife and I have. Over the years, there have been additions and, such as life is, losses. The most recent loss was the death of my Great Pyrenees- Akbash mix Buddy. Buddy was actually in that first post where I introduced all my pets.
Since then I have been fine with only having two dogs to wrangle. However, a few weeks ago I came across a Facebook post from a local rescue about a Pyrenees they had up for adoption. The post was over 2 months old, so I messaged them to ask if the dog was still available. He was but get this: he was being fostered in Buffalo, NY. Apparently, it is easier to adopt Pyrenees in the Northeast, since most folks down this way only want them to be livestock guardian dogs.
Anyways, as I mentioned a few posts ago, my wife and I were heading to Ohio on vacation. So, instead of accompanying my wife to West Virginia for the Glass Gathering, I took a quick trip up to Buffalo to officially adopt him.
I decided to knock this one out before I head out for vacation at the end of the week. It is the 18th signed 1960 Fleer card in my collection, out of 43 possible. This card is the sole thing I have bought for my collection in nearly 2 months.
This card, which came with a JSA certificate, is somewhat rare. I am led to understand from a friend that exclusively collects autographed cards that many of the signed Derringer cards floating around were ghost signed by his wife. So, despite having lived until 1987, his autograph is not particularly common.
The research for this post wasn't nearly as enjoyable as others. Derringer was not necessarily a sympathetic character, having anger management issues that plagued him through out his career and may have contributed to having been thrice married. To be fair though, his last marriage lasted 27 years.
Anyways:
Derringer had a 15-year major league career, starting with the Cardinals for 2 full and 1 partial season. This was followed by 10 years with the Redlegs and concluded with 3 years with the Cubs.
In 1933, he started three games for St Louis and put up a 0-2 record. On May 7, he was dealt to Cincinnati in a six-player deal that saw Leo Durocher head in the opposite direction. In the Queen City, he put up an anemic 7-25 record across 31 starts and 2 relief appearances. Interestingly, modern sabermetrics rate his '33 season better, giving him a roughly league average 103 ERA+ and credit for 2.0 WAR.
In that season, he was being upbraided by Reds GM Lee McPhail for a baserunning error. He picked up an ink well off of the desk and threw it at McPhail, thankfully missing.
On June 27, 1936 his temper got the better of him and he attacked one Robert Condon (a highly decorated soldier who had enlisted as a private and retired as a Brigadier General) in Philadelphia. Condon, at that time a member of the executive committee of the American Legion, Derringer lost the resulting lawsuit and had to pay (with help from the team) the sum of $8,000. The equivalent sum in 2024 is $181,000.
He put up four 20-win seasons with the Reds in 1935 and 1938 through 1940, with 1939 being hte best with a 25-7 record and a third-place finish in NL MVP voting.
He appeared in four World Series, 2 with Cincy and one each with the Cards and Cubs. He pitched to a 2-4 record and a 3.42 in those series that saw his teams win 2 and lose 2.
He never got along with Dizzy Dean and their mutual dislike led to a fistfight in 1939.
After his MLB career was over, he put in one last minor league season with the 1946 Indianapolis Indians. In a game against the Montreal Royals, he decided to throw at Jackie Robinson to see "what he was made of." After being dusted in his first at bat, Robinson hit a line drive single. Repeating his challenge in the next face off, Derringer saw Jackie hit a triple. Paul commented afterward to Royals manager Clay Hopper that "he will do." This led Hopper to let Branch Rickey know that Robinson was ready to move up.
After his career, he worked as a plastics salesman and a troubleshooter for the American Automobile Association (AAA)
This puts me up to date on 1960. But I am still woefully behind with 1961. 28 cards behind to be exact. With the holidays coming up, I really don't expect much hobby spending until after New Year. So, maybe I can post more of my signed 1961 Fleer cards.
What I am listening to: Will It Go Round in Circles by Billy Preston
It has been nearly five months since my last post in this series. I am going to try to pick it back up again, but I've said that before. As it is hobby life has been quiet and will continue to be so for a while. Adult life has a way of causing that. There haven't been any great personal struggles or tragic events. Just adult stuff You all deal with the same from time to time, so no need to bore you with details.
Additionally, we have scheduled a fall trip back to Ohio. The first weekend we will be going to Halloweekends at Cedar Point for the first time since 2020. And the second weekend we will be attending the Annual Glass Gathering at the Museum of American Glass in West Virginia. I think I have mentioned that my wife collects midcentury barware, with a few smaller side collections of swung vases and midcentury ashtrays (oddly neither of us are, nor have been, smokers.) Over the course of this year, she has really gotten involved with the barware collecting community and it has been fun to watch her collecting really take off. I don't even mind that it has made me more intentional about how I collect. With all that on my plate, I don't expect to do much card collecting until the new year.
Anyways, let's get back to it. I haven't added any new signed 1961 Fleer cards in a while. I am still sitting at 72 cards (out of 96 possible) for 1961. Of the 29 cards between here and there, we will be seeing 21 Hall of Fame members. There will be familiar names, but really only one that is considered among the best of the best. I have added one additional 1960 card, but more about that in the future.
So, next up is Travis Jackson.
What caught my attention:
He had a 15-year MLB career, all with the NY Giants. He was discovered as a 14-year-old by dead ball era player, and then minor league manager, Kid Elberfeld. Elberfeld gave him his first pro gig several years later with the Little Rock Travelers of the Southern Association.
After two years at Little Rock, he made his major league debut at the end of the 1922 season, appearing in 3 games and going hitless in 8 plate appearances.
The following season he stuck with the big club and became the first teenager to ever appear in the World Series. He appeared in only one game, Game 2, pinch hitting for pitcher Jack Bentley against Yankee HOFer Herb Pennock. Jackson flew out to left field to end the game that saw the Bombers beat the Giants 4-2.
In 1924, he took over the starting shortstop position from Hall of Famer Dave Bancroft.
After concluding his MLB playing career, Jackson managed the Jersey City Giants for a year and a half (1937-1938) and was a coach for the New York Giants in 1939-1940. After which he retired due to contracting tuberculosis, which he fought for 5 years.
In 1946, he returned to baseball and managed the Jackson Senators in 1946 and coached for the Giants again in 1947 and 1948 under manager Mel Ott. When Ott was replaced by Leo Durocher, Jackson was let go and then embarked on a 13 year run as a minor league manager in the Boston/Milwaukee Braves organization. This included leading the 1954 and 1955 Lawton Braves to Sooner State League championships. He retired again, this time permanently, in 1961.
His admission to the Hall was championed by former teammate and Veterans Committee member, Bill Terry. While Terry never succeeded in getting Jackson enshrined during his tenure, his advocacy was ultimately successful, as Jackson was elected by the Vet's Committee in 1982.
His enshrinement paved the way for other middle infielders who, while not putting up flashy offensive numbers, contributed significantly on the defensive side of the game. Edward Stack, president of the Hall of Fame, would lead to more serious consideration for players like Pee Wee Reese and Phil Rizzuto. Both were elected by the Veterans Committee in subsequent years.
In something I always look at with these old timers, Travis was alive and able to attend his induction ceremony. (I'll never forgive MLB for denying Ron Santo that honor)
