Ward of the State

Two days ago was Halloween - a happy belated All Hallow's Eve to you all!  I hope I didn't spook you by going silent for a few days after an already lengthy absence; I did not go dark again.  Rather, the day upon which the barrier between our world and the great beyond is at it's weakest is my wife and I's favorite holiday.  Christmas is cool, Thanksgiving is neat, Valentine's Day sucks, but Halloween is tops in our household.  The reason why I haven't posted any baseball card content over the past couple days is because we've been laser focused on the frightful festivities.

Between coordinating parties and trick or treating with my little sister-in-law, carving jack o'lanterns, binging scary movies, building five separate costumes between us (obviously, we go all out), and working around the surprise snowstorm that hit the Chicagoland area, my attention has been drawn elsewhere.

However, the fun is all done and the mounds of candy and apple pie shots are currently working through my digestive tract.  I can now return to Wrigley Roster Jenga and show off a card that sort of makes me think of Halloween.  Shortly before I retreated from the baseball life, I pulled the trigger on a pasteboard that bears the colors most associated with the night of ghosts and goblins:

This orange and black oddball featuring former Cubs outfielder, Ward Miller.  Okay, so this isn't exactly the smoothest segue that I've ever typed out on this blog space; that said, it's certainly not the worst either.  It'll do.

What you are looking at comes from a set recently by Historic Autographs, the people behind the unlicensed, cut autographs that we all love so very much.  For those who might not be good at picking up on context clues, that sentence was drenched with sarcasm.  Their products are usually not particularly easy on the eyes - y'know, the cards that look something like this:

Basically, index cards and cut autographs purchased secondhand, framed with an artistic-looking border, and thrown back out into the market.  At best, HA provides a way for collectors to obtain relatively cheap signatures of athletes and celebrities who would otherwise be far out of their budget.  After all, the bare-bones design, lack of pictures, team colors and/or names, etc. keeps the price down compared to products from standard bearers such as Topps and even fellow unlicensed groups like Panini or Leaf.  At worst, these products cause the destruction and mangling of rare John Hancocks, documents, and autographs - although, it's not like the other guys in the industry aren't sometimes guilty of that transgression themselves.

All told, usually Historic Autograph cards are fall somewhere in the blase middle - boring and decidedly non-flashy cards which don't move the needle very far in either direction.

However, as you can see with the Ward Miller card that this post is centered around, HA has gone in an entirely different direction with this 2019 product - The Federal League - which revolves around the "outlaw" third Major League of the same name from about a century prior to it's release.  These baseball cards look much more like traditional cards - pictures of players, team designation, a distinct artistic design, biographical write-ups on the backside, etc.

As a fun little quirk, those bio paragraphs are inked in the present tense, which adds to the faux vintage aura HA is going for with this product.

Available in select hobby shops across the country, HA Federal League hit store shelves on July 24th and was distributed in boxes which contained 10 packs per unit, and 8 cards per pack.  Obviously, the checklist was built around players who plied their talents in the Federal League, which existed as a rogue third Major League from 1914-1915 and poached many quality ballplayers before legal battles put an end to their uprising.  While it might seem like the short-lived renegade circuit would by perfect fodder for an unlicensed manufacturer to seize upon, Major League Baseball has since absorbed the history and intellectual property of their former rival and, as such, there are still no official team names or logos featured on this product.

Nevertheless, the "Fed" League is a part of professional baseball history that is mostly forgotten in hobby circles.  I can't think of many cards or card sets which focus upon these teams; some subsets in Conlon Collection are literally the only other modern peers that I can think of when it comes to the topic.

The only other cards that I can think of that have broached the subject are the iconic Cracker Jack cards from 1915, which covered the league in real time.  I mean, just look at the checklist above... how many of those guys can you honestly say that you've heard of or that you've ever seen a card - much less, bought - with their likeness upon it's face?  Outside of a few significant exceptions, i.e. Mordecai Brown, Chief Bender, etc., my guess is next to none.

So, with all of that in mind, while Historic Autographs might still be pigeon-holed by MLB licensing restrictions, it looks as though they found an excellent way to stand out from the crowd by tackling subject-matter which has been largely ignored in their market.  As such, I think I actually adore this product and not just because it made a card of a player needed for my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection that I might otherwise have to drop big bucks on to acquire.  HA has found a previously unfulfilled niche with The Federal League.

Of course, since it's a modern baseball card set, it has various inserts, parallels, and hits to chase (as noted by the disclaimer on the bottom of the box you see above); that, however, is of very little interest to me.  Here, I'm all about that base.

These cards appear to drawn inspiration from the various "art cards" that can be found on the secondhand market and, in several cases, on this blog.  The simulated artwork, aped vintage design, vintage cardstock all appear straight out of the template procured by the likes of Helmar, Ars Longa, Banty Red, et al.   In fact, when I first saw my Ward Miller single on listed on eBay, I assumed that it was just another one of those fantasy cards... not that I'm above adding them to my collection when I see fit.  That being stated, the fact that Ward hailed from a pack-issued, traditional retail set piqued my interest even more.  Well, that and the fact that it mimicked the design from one of my favorite all-time card layouts - the aforementioned 1915 Cracker Jack food-issue.

It just so happens that Mr. Miller appears in both of these checklists, so let's do a side-by-side comparison.  As you can plainly see, the inspiration is hardly subtle and makes sense with the Federal League through line.  In a sense, HA's option is almost like a infinitely more affordable alternative.

All in all, I've talked an awful lot about the card itself and the associated release; but, I've barely given any mention of the player it depicts.  After all, as much as I like these pasteboards, I would not have bought one if it didn't feature a player that held my direct interest.  As such, it's time that I shift the spotlight from the cardboard to the outfielder who's bust is printed upon it.

Ward Miller is an Illinois boy, through and through.  Born in Mt. Carroll, IL and raised in Dixon, IL, graduated from Northern Illinois University, played for the Chicago Cubs, returned to Dixon and served as the Sheriff of Lee County.  Like I said, the license plates around here should basically read Land of Miller instead of Land of Lincoln.

Although, those early years of his professional career were marred with illness and injuries.  For instance, his baseball career nearly ended before it even began after he decided to play around with a shot put.  The arm injury he suffered plagued him for the rest of his diamond days.  Also, while playing in the bush leagues in 1907, a fever similar to Malaria sidelined him for most of the season.  Furthermore, while playing with the Pirates in 1909 (his maiden season), he only got into fifteen games before being diagnosed with tuberculosis, causing him to be traded away to the Reds by the future NL pennant winners.  Bad breaks all around for Mr. Ward, it seems.

Ward (far right) with some of his Cubs teammates in 1913.

He'd play a year and a half for Reds and spent another year back in the minors before he finally made his date with destiny and returned to the Prairie State, for two years with the Cubbies.  It must have felt inevitable considering all of his Illinois connections. 

As a part-time fly-chaser, "Windy" Ward batted a serviceable, but non-descript, .275 across 166 games.   The most notable contribution Miller made to Cubs history was that he facilitated what was likely the final on-field appearance of the most famous double play combination in the history of America's pastime.  Tinker, Evers, Chance and the rest of the 1912 Cubs came to little, ol' Dixon to play an exhibition game against one of those local amateur clubs; the contest came about at the behest of their teammate, Ward Miller.  Shortly thereafter, Frank Chance would move onto the Big Apple and swap Cubbie Blue for Yankee pinstripes.  But, the famous trio's swan song became the stuff of local legend thanks to the hometown hero.

As you know, Miller eventually made his way to the Federal League and, sadly, it was the Chicagoans that he turned his back on to do so. To make matters worse, before the start of the 1914 campaign, he hopped to the St. Louis franchise, of all places, and he stuck around the Second City's greatest rival for a while. After two seasons with the Terriers, he spent two more with the Browns. It's a minor miracle that he was accepted back in Illinois after those years spent in the Gateway of the West... good thing his roots ran far too deep to be ripped up by a few years astray.

Like I mentioned earlier, after calling it quits, Miller returned home and traded his cleats for a sheriff's badge, serving that role for most of the rest of his life.  He passed away in 1958, at the age of 74, and was laid to rest at Oakwood Cemetery in his hometown of Dixon.

Miller's only Cubs card, a T207

That's the story of Ward Miller - he battled injuries and illness, facilitated the last appearance of he most famous "trio of bear cubs," and was an Illinois boy all the way to the bitter end.  And now, "Windy" is properly represented in my hallowed CATRC binder, courtesy of Historic Autographs and their Federal League set.

Has anyone else on the blogosphere sampled this HA product?  Do you find the idea behind the set to be unique enough to warrant it's existence?  Do you think that this is the start of something greater for the heretofore bland Historic Autographs ?  Or, will they slip back into hocking nothing more than cut autos and index cards with a pretty frame?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

All I know, is that without this set, I would have either had to settle for a cheap reprint or drop big bucks on super vintage in order to get Miller into my collection.  This Cracker Jack-like modern, faux-retro product is about as appealing of an alternative as I can possibly dream of.  For that, I thank you, Historic Autos!

Oh and to close things out, here are some of the five Halloween costumes that were occupying so much of my time over the past few days.  Can you figure out what we are?  I feel as though one of these outfits should be much easier to determine than the other.