When I was a kid, I would buy old time baseball cards from the store. Do they still have those? They of course, included players like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio. I pored over the bios and stats written on the back of these cards. Iwould even play a makeshift game I invented with them, drafting them over and over again.
One of the more lesser known players me as a little kid was Tris Speaker. So naturally, I became fascinated with ‘The Grey Eagle’ and to some extent, still am. Thanks to Charles Cox for sparking this interest once again.
Center fielder Tris Speaker had a long, 22-year career and this card is near the beginning of it. With the Red Sox, it was his fifth full season in the American League. It didn’t take long for Speaker to make a mark but 1912 was his first year he led the league in significant offensive categories.
While hitting .383, Speaker paced the AL in doubles with 53. He also led the league in homers with 10. With a .567 slugging percentage, his .464 OBP was tops in the league.
Not to be pegged as just a slugger, Speaker had legs, too. He stole 52 bases. He also managed to walk 82 times and only struck out a Sewell-esque 36 times.
Tris Speaker deservedly earned the AL MVP in the 1912 season and led the Sox to a World Championship over the New York Giants.
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1912 Totals | 153 | 153 | 674 | 580 | 136 | 222 | 53 | 12 | 10 | 90 | 53 | 79 | 34 | .383 | .463 | .567 |
Speaker’s specifics
Looking at Speaker’s card in general, it’s an excellent card. In the context of the deadball era, it is out of this world.
First things first, he is fast and and an OF-3. That’s a great place to start.
Then we get to his bat. Speaker has power numbers 0-0-0-0 with one solitary single in the second column. Aside from the 53 doubles and 10 homers, Speaker also rapped 12 triples in 1912 so he has five 2s in the second column behind those four 0s.
Speaker has a 44-7 but a 55-8. Why? All those glorious speed numbers! Speaker’s 1912 card sports a 15-11, 25-11, 31-10 and a 51-10. All those speed numbers will help recreate his 52 steals. Just as importantly, they are also hits. That also means Speaker has result numbers like 64-9 and 61-9.
Tris Speaker has four 14s which is somewhat rare in the deadball era. I’m still looking but I cannot see any 13s on his card at all. Not only that, APBA awarded him three 31s with an extra 21-31.
In my opinion, this card is an almost perfect card to use for a hit and run as long as the baserunner has an 11 on his card.
Amazing, that Speaker still holds the all-time career doubles record after all these years. It’s by a pretty wide margin, too.
Thanks Charles!
