What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been

 

Early last summer, I came to the blog to vent about a case of mistaken identity.  In short, I thought that I had tracked down a great deal on a super vintage card of a random, long forgotten player for my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection binder.  As it turned out, both the Ebay vendor and I were confused as to the true identity of the player depicted on this rare beauty, as it only featured the man's surname on the front and back sides of the pasteboard.  Unfortunately for me, the player on the card in question played around the same time as the guy that I was actually looking for and he shared the same last name (without relation).  As you can see, it was a pretty easy mistake for the pair of us to each make and I didn't blame the vendor at all for the mix-up; however, that didn't make plopping down some of my hard earned money in a splurge not often made by my cheap ass any less frustrating at the time. Granted, I only lost about $20 on the deal; but, like I said, major cheap ass.

 

Now, it wasn't the Pete Kilduff card that you see above... at least, it wasn't at the time.  Confused?  Why is this card leading off the post?  Please, allow me to explain.  There is a method behind my madness.

You see the card that I actually whiffed on was a 1912 Imperial Tobacco (C46) single and the player that it depicted was James, aka "Not Arthur," Pehlan:

John "Jimmy" Phelan was an outfielder who never made the ultimate ascent, but had a long playing career in the bush leagues, from 1905-14, with several different clubs.  Unfortunately, none of them were the Cubs.  Meanwhile, Art Phelan was an infielder with a five-year Big League tenure, playing at first for the Reds in 1910 and 1912, then with the Cubbies from 1913-15 in the near aftermath of their dynastic period.

At any rate, these guys were not the same person.  What a shame too, as I've always liked the look of the Imperials and was truly excited about finding one that fit into my budget and my most treasured collection.  That's the way the cookie crumbles I guess... or the cigarette rolls, perhaps?

However, I didn't let this confusion keep me down for long.  I took solace in the fact that such a card would definitely have some trade value, which I was truly counting on when I took to Wrigley Roster Jenga to discuss my switcheroo.  Additionally, I also shared my post on Twitter to maximize the exposure I could get in hopes of a trade offer.  Luckily, my hunch was correct and the immensely knowledgeable and respectful Mark Hoyle was more than happy to given Jimmy a good home.  In exchange, the SABR heavyweight offered me card that was a much better fit in my collection:

That's right, you're eyes do not deceive you - that's an authentic 1935 Goudey 4-in-1 and it's the first one I have ever held in person.  Plus, if you're keeping score at home, that's four Cubs in exchange (three of which reside in Cooperstown) for one non-Cub.  Hot damn, that's one helluva deal!  

You should totally give Mr. Hoyle a follow too - the Red Sox oddballs that he shares @Markhoyle4 are fascinating to baseball fans of any team.  I've learned about so many off-the-beaten path products from his Tweets that I've lost count.

Despite the card getting lost in the mail for about a month (hey, thanks orange goblin for ruining the post office on top of the laundry list of crap you've caused), the only thing on my mind was which player should this card be used to represent in my CATRC?  Which, if I'm being honest, is a pretty strong reason why I tend to avoid acquiring multiplayer cards for said binder unless absolutely necessary.  But, no matter what, a Pre-War Cubs card is something that I am absolutely never going to turn down, especially in exchange for something I didn't even really want!

But Tony, you might be saying to yourself, "what the heck does any of this trade have to do with the Kilduff card that you showed at the beginning of this blog entry?"  "You're rambling!"  To that I say, patience, young padawan, everything will make sense in the end and, yea, I have a strong tendency to be long-winded.

Anyway, like I said, I loved my new Goudey; but, the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was while it did fit into my collection, it was an imperfect fit.  That being said, I was still perfectly happy to have it in my possession.  But, a few weeks later, another excellent Twitter account - @Grandcards - was doing the same thing I did with my impostor Phelan.  Here's the deal, this guy is always tweeting out great deals on pre-war stock and I had noticed a lot of caramel cards that was of particular interest.  Rather, I should say that the lot contained a single card that was of particular interest to me.  Can you guess what it was?

You guessed it, we've finally reached the branch of the trade tree that includes our ol' buddy Pete here, a 1921-23 E220 National Caramel treat.  While it's definitely trimmed, has a crease and some paper loss, this is not a card or a set that pops up very often in my price range.  In fact, I had never seen Kilduff's entry on the checklist.  Dig that awesome (albeit staged) fielding photograph!

Luckily for me, the Grand Man was interested in trades as well as sales, especially for other pre-war cards in return.  Generally, the Motor City fan generally prefers Tigers when it comes to exchanges; nevertheless, he was still interested in adding my newly acquired Goudey 4-in-1 to his stash, as he only had one other example from the set.

I realize that trading a card of my favorite team that featured three vintage Hall of Famers for this nobody seems like a terrible, Darvish for Davies level deal.  But, rest assured that it was absolutely worth it to me.  You see, Pete Kilduff doesn't have much of a cardboard footprint; in fact, it's so faint that it's barely there.  According to the Trading Card Database, the only cards he does have come from the 1921-23 time period and they are ALL rare, regional, food issues.  I guess that's what happens when your not a star or even a regular starter in an era post-tobacco cards and pre-Topps.  At any rate, this situation is not exactly conducive to my low budget collecting ways.  When such an opportunity knocks, I feel obliged to answer the door.

No matter what, I get more enjoyment out of my Kilduff card than I do the pasteboard that came before it, though I'm no less grateful for Mark Hoyle's initial rescue!

Kilduff during his tenure with the Cubs (Sporting News Collection Hologram/MEARS Photo LOA)

Anyway, we've done a lot of leading to and talking about the card itself, but said very little about the player which it pictures.  Pete Kilduff played in the Major Leagues from 1917 through 1921 for the Giants, Cubs, and Robins (aka the Dodgers), though he continued on in the minors until 1928.  The infielder usually came off of the bench, only twice topping 100 games during his time in the Bigs and was a fairly usable piece when he did, with a .270/.338/.364 career slash.  Of course he lacked power, but so did everyone back then.

Unfortunately, the two things this serviceable ballplayer are best remembered are not exactly great things.  First, while Pete did get to play in a World Series during his time with Brooklyn, he was one of the three men caught up in Bill Wambsganss' famed unassisted triple play.  Secondly, shortly after he permanently hung up his spikes as player, Pete was announced to manage one of his former clubs - the Shreveport Sports of the A-level Texas League - going into the 1930 season.  Tragically, the transition wasn't to be, as Kilduff died suddenly, before he even had the chance to hand in a lineup card.  He was only 36 years old when he passed.

In a bizarre bit of symmetry, the manager whom Kilduff was succeeding in Shreveport was none other than Art Phelan, the man who started this whole cardboard journey.  Huh....

What a tangled web we weave, eh?

Before I start thinking too hard about that odd coincidence, I want to ask you all, have you ever completed such a long, drawn out trade such as this one?  Was it worth the whole process in the end?  Furthermore, have you ever made a deal that - on it's surface - seemed like it was not beneficial towards your goals, like three vintage HOF Cubs for a scrub?  This hobby isn't truly about value after all, despite what all these new cardboard stock traders might make it seem, it's about enjoyment and finding things that bring you joy.  I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below!

Once again, my eternal thanks go out to Mark Hoyle and Grand Cards for making these trades with me - I truly do appreciate your generosity and I hope that you enjoyed your ends of the deals as much as I did mine.  

Welcome to the CATRC, Pete Kilduff.  What a long, strange trip it's been.