Enough Beating Around the Bush

 There are certain things that seem "wrong" to say.

Saying that one bought multiple T206es in one swoop is probably one of them.

Or at least that was always the case for me. It always felt like these old tobacco cards are so old that they seem beyond the concept of bundles or "lots" like they're a stack of 1970 Topps. Although who knows, with the hobby bubble being where it is maybe lots in general don't exist anymore.

Even in past posts where I showed off multiple T206es, they were separate purchases from different people. Never did I think just bundling cards this old and significant (citation needed) would be possible.

But when a seller just happens to have 3 T206es I needed at the cheapest possible options, it'd be dumb for me not to just swoop in. Because what's the alternative? I just buy those three at different times from the same person? Yeah no, these take nearly a month to get to me now. Might as well save on time and shipping fees.

Jack Knight

Charlie Hemphill

Kid Elberfeld

Enter Jack Knight, Charlie Hemphill and Kid Elberfeld.

Unfortunately there isn't a lot on Knight but Hemphill is interesting to me in the sense that his run during the years the T206es came out (1909-11) were basically in sync with the last three seasons of his career. He was supposedly a power threat in his day (keep in mind this is pre-integration dead-ball era baseball, his career .070 ISO basically says as much) but he also took his walks. During his Highlanders tenure his walk rate was above 10% every season and in his worst season hit for a 108 wRC+ (stats per Fangraphs).

Elberfeld being a longtime MLBer in his time left behind a lot of interesting tidbits and stories. Keeping a Highlanders specific point of view, Elberfeld was the second ever captain for the franchise and during his second life as a manager down in the minor leagues he mentored a future name in Yankees lore named Casey Stengel.

Jack Knight Back

Charlie Hemphill Back

Kid Elberfeld Back

19/20

Wake up, no more dreaming. Time to make it a reality.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care.

We're Balling

 Enter Neal Ball.

Ball is probably best known as the first player in MLB history to record an unassisted triple play, but he was a member of the Cleveland Naps and not the New York Highlanders so that doesn't really matter.

What does matter is that Ball was a shortstop who spent his childhood in Kalamazoo, Michigan and was a defensively flawed shortstop for the New York baseball team in the American League. Gee that sounds very familiar.

Ball was more or less a back-up option that filled in for shortstop on the Yankees while Kid Elberfeld was out and would become expendable when Elberfeld returned. He was sent off to Cleveland where he completed the aforementioned unassisted triple play, and then in 1912 he was traded to the Boston Red Sox where he won a World Series ring despite his only real contribution being striking out against Rube "worst starting pitcher in the Hall of Fame" Marquard.

Following that Ball would embark on his second life as a manager and wind up physically in Baltimore in 1914 where he'd come to know a future name in Yankees lore named Babe Ruth.

Ball would continue to enjoy a long career in ball thanks to his pleasant demeanor and being held in high regard by people in and around the game.

16/20

Dare to dream.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care.