Third Time's the Charm

In Tuesday's post, I alluded to the fact that I was lucky enough to receive a small handful of new additions to my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection, as well - three, to be specific.  Apparently, my family knows me and knows what I want pretty well!  I've been chasing these vintage oddball cards for a long time and the players' stories are unique enough that I feel as though it would be a disservice to cram them all into a singular blog entry; therefore, over the next few days, I'll give each individual card a moment in the spotlight, so that I might brag appropriately.

Yesterday, we began the showcase by examining the newest of the trio, John Flavin's 1983 Fritsch One-Year Winner card.  Therefore, let us continue this linear timeline by moving on to the second "newest" of the three gifts.  Of course, time is quite relative and this card is a little bit older than middle-aged:

This 70-year old slip of cardboard represents the second 1947 Signal Oil Pacific Coast League single to enter into my prized collection, the first being Ray Prim's 1945 Cubs teammate, Ed Sauer.  These  5-9/16" x 3-1/2", over-sized, super-vintage pieces are printed on thin cardstock with newspaper comic-like headshots of the titular player.  Additionally, as you can plainly see, they also featured immensely entertaining cartoons around the drawn bust.

Courtesy of these cartoons, we learn that the Angels' Prim once tossed two no-hitters in just a single week (record of which, I cannot find), fishing is one of his favorite hobbies, and - get this - he once pulled an 11-foot alligator out of a hollow log.  That's not exactly the kind of background information that you usually uncover on a baseball card!  It also begs the question, "why???"

One more thing about the front:

The bottom right corner features the credit for the etchings, which belongs to former New York Giants pitcher, Al Demaree, who handled the cartoons for the entire set.  After an eight-year stint in the Majors, Demaree parlayed his diamond experience into a lengthy second career as a sports cartoonist.  In fact, the Sporting News used his cartoons for over 30 years and, at one time, he was syndicated by over 200 newspapers at once.  As an added bonus, Al also spent one of his eight years in baseball with the Cubs and also resides comfortably in my CATRC binder.

Al Demaree - pitcher and cartoonist, as the back of my 1994 Conlon Collection burgundy parallel states.

So, with that in mind, I guess Al Demaree is the only man to show up in my coveted tome twice... kind of.  At any rate, I'm fairly certain that he's the only former Cubs player to have anything to do with the production of another Cubs baseball card in my collection.  So, there's a fun fact.

Meanwhile, turning our attention back to Ray Prim and his antique '47 Signal Oil exhibit, let's take a look at the reverse of the intriguing piece of baseball ephemera:

Here you will find the traditional baseball vitals and biographical write-up.  Additionally, below the bio is a full manifesto of professional clubs for which Prim has played (Major and minor) and, to the right, is an advertisement for the corresponding team's home broadcasts and for the set sponsor, Signal Oil.

Overall, the larger set only consists of 5 of the 8 Pacific Coast League teams and the Sacramento and Seattle singles are much more rare.  I'm not entirely sure how they were distributed - however, they were likely a premium associated with Signal Oil purchases.  Luckily for me, the Wrigley-owned and Cubs-affiliated LA Angels made the cut and are not among the rarer portions of the checklist, as several of the players eventually made it to the Show with Chicago and don't have much else to their cardboard portfolio.  This post's hero, Mr. Prim, is one of those cases.

Despite his lack of trading cards, Prim's name is permanently etched into the Cubs franchise's record books.  You see, the former Senator and Phillie had a second wind as a wartime replacement player and, before Kyle Hendricks in 2016, Ray was the last Cub to lead the National League in ERA - 2.40, in 1945.  Appropriately enough, both campaigns ended with the club's two most recent World Series appearances.

Prim's Major League story actually begins with the Cubs - back in 1932, as a minor-leaguer with the Class-B Albany Senators, Commissioner Kenesaw Landis was forced to settle a dispute between the Cubs (who claimed they held an option on the pitcher) and the Boston Braves, who wanted to purchase Prim's contract.  In a M. Night Shyamalan-esque twist, Landis ignored both claimants and allowed Albany to sell his rights to the highest bidder - the Washington Senators.

It would be another another four years before the Cubs would finally land their man.

In the interim, the lefty was less than impressive in his brief Big League auditions (10 games from 1933-34) and, after a trade, was downright terrible in his lone season in Philadelphia (5.77 ERA in 73.1 IP).  With that performance, he was pushed back down to the bush leagues and back into the free agent pool.  Come 1936, the Cubbies came back around to the one who got away and inked him to a contract to play for their PCL affiliates, the Los Angeles Angels.

Prim (right) warming up with LA teammate, Fay Thomas, circa 1936.  Image courtesy of Water and Power Associates.

For the next several years, Prim would toil in the minors for the Cubs, with his once promising Big League potential deemed to have been spent.  However, he managed to find a home in the City of Angels, thrice winning 20-games for the Wrigley-owned, Chicago-affiliate and never posting any less than 16 victories.  Additionally, his ERA consistently hovered in the mid-to-high twos.  Despite this impressive performance, the man known by his teammates as "Squire" may not have had another Major League opportunity if it wasn't for war.

As we wanna-be baseball historians know, the pool of Major League talent continuously dried up after America entered World War II.  As the conflict raged on and more and more players volunteered or were drafted, clubs were getting downright desperate to fill rosters.  Thus, many aged veterans (many even coming out of retirement) were once again called upon to fill gaps, as they were too old to be considered for the service.  By 1943, Ray Prim, who was now in his late-30's and featured streaks of gray in his perfectly coiffed hair, was finally given a second chance.

Prim during his MLB revival.  Image courtesy of SABR.

Going into the season, both of the club's lefties were drafted and Prim found his opening.  In 29 games, working mostly out of the bullpen, Prim looked pretty good with a 2.55 ERA in a round 60 frames of mound duty; his average was lowest on the staff.  Of course, a bit of self-sabotage almost ruined his MLB revival.  Going into 1944, "Squire" chose to train in sunny LA with the Angels rather than the rest of the Big League club in chilly French Lick, IN - this lead to a demotion by the spurned club.

Nevertheless, after another season back with Los Angeles in 1944, he posted his fourth 20-win season and again forced the pitching-thin Wrigley residents to give him another chance for 1945.  Not many men get three chances like Ray did and Prim absolutely seized it.  After a rough and tumble start, the “ancient lefty,” rattled off a streak 27⅓ scoreless innings in mid-July on his way to a 1.27 ERA in his final 113⅓ innings, completing eight of 13 starts (among 19 appearances), and winning 11 of 14 decisions.  Come the end of regular season, no hurler in the entire National League had a lower ERA than Prim's mark of 2.40.

Unfortunately, that was to be Prim's peak.  We all know how the '45 World Series worked out for the Cubs and his performance did nothing to help the team (5 runs allowed in 4 innings).  Then, with the War finally over and the Major League stars returning for 1946, Prim injured his elbow in his first start of the season and never truly recovered.  Back in the PCL by '47, the veteran finally called it quits after a battle with the mumps hampered his effectiveness, at the age of 40.

Therefore, with that in mind, we can consider Prim's 1947 Signal Oil card to be a sunset card, seeing as it was released during his last year of professional baseball.  While his Major League success was brief and fleeting, the numbers he racked up with the Angels earned him a spot in the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame in 2005.

And that's the story of Ray Prim - fought over as a prospect, banished to the bushes, surprised as a War time star, and became a PCL legend.  Sounds like quite the ride!

Thanks to this generous gift from my parents, I now know "Squire's" tale - I must admit, I knew nothing about this man until I unwrapped the present sitting under my Christmas tree.  Nothing, that is, except that he was a forgotten Cub who was needed for my CATRC and had only one true baseball card issued in his name.  But, isn't that the true beauty of baseball cards?  Through these slips of paper we learn all about the history of our nation's pastime and those who played a part in it's ever-growing tale.  Welcome to the binder, Ray.

Stay tuned for part three of my Christmas stash, a post which will go live tomorrow morning.  Who will it be?  What will it be?  Let's just say that it's another oddball which makes this 70-year old antique look like a spring chicken!