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I committed the cardinal sin of a mid-grade set collector.

Big Bill Lee helped lead the Cubbies to the 1938 World Series with a 22-9 record and a 2.66 ERA. After being drafted by the Cardinals, Bill Veeck, Sr. obtained him in a trade on the advice of Jack Doyle and he spent his entire major league career with the Cubs.

Phil Cavarretta played two decades for the Cubs before finishing up with the White Sox. One of the better major leaguers not to serve in World War II (he was exempted because of a hearing problem), Cavarretta tore up the watered down NL talent with a .321 average in 1944 and a .355 average on his way to an MVP season in 1945. He was a four-time All Star. He also managed the Cubs for three season.

Frank Pytlak was one of those plowhorse catchers who hang around for a long time and are always good to have around.

Look what the mail turned up today!

I met Tommy Henrich when he spoke at the Salem/Roanoke Hall of Fame banquet one year. Nicknamed “Old Reliable” by legendary announcer Mel Allen, he was a tireless worker with a reputation for delivering in the clutch. He was never officially the captain of the team but was always the acknowledged leader, mentoring a young Mickey Mantle. Henrich was a five-time world series champion and five-time All Star. After his career, he worked as a broadcaster, owned three breweries, worked in PR among other things, but he never strayed too far from baseball and was a fixture at Yankees old timers games.

A smooth fielding shortstop, Frank Crosetti collected a whole lot of World Championship rings in his thirty-seven seasons as a shortstop and coach for the Yankees. During the course of his career, he collected a staggering $142,000 in World Series checks, an astounding amount in context of the salaries of the times. Although he was never a great player

Ival Goodman was a key cog in the Reds back-to-back pennants of 1939 and 1940. He was the first Red to hit 30 home runs in a season and a member of the team’s Hall of Fame.

Eddie Joost was a member of the 1940 World Series Champion and the last manager of the Philadelphia As. His low career batting average is the result of futility in the early part of his career…he showed a marked improvement in average after he began wearing eyeglasses on the field, becoming an All Star in 1949 and 1952.