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John Cooney spent most of his life in baseball as a pitcher, first baseman, outfielder and coach. In more than 3000 big league at bats spanning three decades, he hit only two home runs. His two homers were hit in consecutive games in September 1939.

Sibby Sisti was a hard-nosed scrapper who was a fan favorite because of his willingness and determination in coping with injuries. Known for his versatility, Sisti played every position except pitcher and catcher during his big league career. He had a small role in the baseball film The Natural as the Braves manager.

Max West was a pretty decent outfielder/first baseman with some pretty bad teams. The highlight of his career was probably in 1940 when he was named to the NL All Star team. His career spanned a decade from 1938 to 1948 with the Boston Bees, Pirates and Reds, but he missed three seasons to the war.

Carvel Rowell is best remembered for hitting a prodigious shot high double atop the Ebbets Field scoreboard in right field that shattered the Bulova clock, sending glass cascading down on Brooklyn right fielder Dixie Walker and inspiring novelist Bernard Malamud to write “The Natural” six years later.

When I picked up this card I thought it was just a common I needed to fill out the set.

Frank Hayes was nicknamed “Blimp” for no apparent reason. The A’s catcher was 6 feet tall and tipped the scales at only 185, so he was well south of Ernie Lombardi territory. He was a six-time AL All Star and from 1943-1946 caught 312 consecutive games, a record that has never been broken. Hayes was the Indians catcher on April 30, 1946 when Bob Feller threw a no hitter and, he provided the only run of the game with a ninth-inning home run.

Al Brancato was a fairly undistinguished good-field no-hit shortstop, but is the third player from the set I have found who is still living. Al Brancato in local leagues around Philadelphia and was signed by Connie Mack while still a senior at Southern. He received a $1,000 bonus and spent the money investing in the family business, a grocery store.

If Indian Bob Johnson were playing today, would we call him Native American Bob Johnson? And isn’t Johnson a kind of strange name for an Indian anyway? He was one quarter Cherokee.vA very solid player who normally toiled for inferior teams, he hit 20 home runs for five seasons in a row. He didn’t reach the majors until he was 27, but put together a very nice career that included a .297 average and was an 8-time all star.

I don’t know of any other set that has two guys named Pinky in it (the other being Pinky May). Pinky Higgins (who was dubbed Pinky as a baby and reportedly detested the name) had a good career, landing on three all-star teams. He was considered one of the league’s better hitting third sackers of his time. After his career, he stayed in baseball, working as a manager, scout, and executive.

Dick Bartell was a feisty competitor nicknamed “Rowdy Richard.” He played in the 1933 World Series, the first ever to be played.

Joe Cronin‘s appears on two cards in this set and in both cases he’s in good company. One of his cards he shares with Ted Williams, possibly the best hitter ever to swing a bat.