1910-1919 Phillies Want List

2005 Topps Turkey Red #14

In February 2012, I started drafting a post to serve as a want list of Phillies baseball cards issued before 1930.  I wrote then, "About a half hour into this exercise, I concluded that what I was doing was ridiculous."  At the time, I owned one Phillies baseball card from before the 1930s - the 1911 T205 Gold Border Chas S. Dooin card.  As of this writing, I've added three more cards from the 1911 T205 set.

Over the past six years, I've found myself at baseball card shows, looking at displays of old Phillies baseball cards that are (relatively) reasonably priced and thinking, "I might actually own that card one day."  If all goes according to plan, I'd like to cross one of these cards off my want list each year.  This list is most likely not complete, and I'll revise/add as I become aware of additional cards.

1910 Smith's Mellow-Mint (E105) - Dooin, Doolan, Harsel, Jacklitsch, Knabe, Magee
1910 E98 Set of 30 - #20 Dooin
1910 Philadelphia Caramel (E96) - #10 Dooin, #20 McQuillan
1910 Sepia Postcards (PC796) - #8 Collins, #11 Dooin, #21 Plank
1910 Silk Premiums (S81) - #89 Alexander, #98 Magee, #101 Dooin
1910 Standard Caramel (E93) - #12 Dooin

1910-11 Sporting Life (M116) - #13 Bates (Phillies variation), #17 Beebe, #29 Bransfield, #71 Dooin, #72 Doolan, #94 Foxen, #105 Grant, #125 Jacklitsch, #136 Knabbe, #161 Magee, #175 McQuillan, #184 Moore, #185 Moran, #186 Moren, #203 Paskert, #226 Schettler, #243 Sparks, #265 Titus, #273 Walsh
1910-12 Sweet Caporal Pins - #124 Bransfield, #125 Dooin, #126 Doolan, #127 Lobart, #128 Magee, #129 Moran, #130 Paskert, #131 Rowan, #132 Titus

1911 Helmar Stamps (T332) - Beck, Dooin, Doolan, Downey, Knabe, Lobert, Luderus, Magee, Moore, Moran, Paskert, Scanlan, Titus
1911 Mecca Double Folders (T201) - #31 Lobert/Moore, #45 Titus/Dooin
1911 S74 Silks - Dooin, Doolan, Foxen, Grant, Moran, Shean, Titus

1911 T205 Gold Border
Have - Bates, Dooin, Doolan, Ewing, Paskert Titus
Need - Bransfield, Jacklitsch, Lobert, Magee, Moran, Rowan

1911 Turkey Red Cabinets (T3) - #14 Dooin, #31 Magee, #82 Bransfield, #90 Doolan, #109 Moran
1912 Brown Backgrounds (T207) - Chalmers, Dooin, Downey, Graham, Knabe, Moore, Moran, Paskert, Rasmussen, Scanlan
1912 Hassan Triple Folders (T202) - Moran/Magee, Paskert/Magee, Dooin/Magee, Dooin/Doolan, Dooin/Lobert, Dooin/Titus, Dooin/Lobert 2, Brown/Graham

1913 Fatima Teams (T200) - #14 Phillies
1913 National Game (WG5) - #1 Alexander, #15 Dooin
1913 Tom Barker Game (WG6) - #1 Alexander, #15 Dooin

1914 Cracker Jack (E145-1) - #37 Alexander, #45 Luderus, #47 Devore, #82 Cravath, #96 Becker, #108 Magee, #125 Niehoff, #135 Killefer
1914 Fatima (T222) - #1 Alexander, #11 Chalmers, #17 Houck, #26 Lobert, #27 L. Magee, #28 S. Magee
1914 Piedmont Art Stamps (T330-2) - #8 Becker, #16 Byrne, #31 Devore, #60 Killefer, #66 Lobert, #68 Magee, #79 Moran, #88 Paskert

1915 Cracker Jack (E145-2) - #37 Alexander, #45 Luderus, #60 Dugey, #82 Cravath, #92 Demaree, #96 Becker, #125 Niehoff, #135 Killefer, #151 Whitted, #165 Murphy, #172 Mayer
1916 Fleischman Bakery (D381) - Alexander, Bancroft, Becker, Burns, Byrne, Luderus, Paskert, Whitted
1916 Sporting News (M101-4) - #4 Alexander, #10 Bancroft, #13 Bender, #18 Burns, #24 Byrne, #29 Chalmers, #40 Cravath, #45 Demaree, #46 Devore, #53 Dugey, #69 Good, #95 Killefer, #106 Luderus, #114 Mayer, #125 Moran, #132 Niehoff, #136 Paskert, #142 Rixey, #170 Stock, #189 Whitted
1916 Sporting News (M101-5) - #4 Alexander, #9 Bancroft, #12 Becker, #17 Burns, #22 Byrne, #27 Chalmers, #41 Cravath, #47 Demaree, #46 Devore, #54 Dugey, #69 Good, #93 Killefer, #104 Luderus, #112 Mayer, #123 Moran, #130 Niehoff, #135 Paskert, #142 Rixey, #172 Stock, #190 Whitted
1916 Standard Biscuit - #2 Alexander, #12 Bancroft, #18 Burns, #23 Byrne, #35 Cravath, #93 Killefer, #96 Lavender, #102 Luderus, #110 Mayer, #114 McInnis, #128 Niehoff, #130 Paskert, #139 Rixey, #169 Stock, #188 Whitted
1916 Weil Baking Co. (D328) - #2 Alexander, #12 Bancroft, #18 Burns, #23 Byrne, #35 Cravath, #93 Killefer, #96 Lavender, #102 Luderus, #110 Mayer, #114 McInnis, #128 Niehoff, #130 Paskert, #139 Rixey, #169 Stock, #188 Whitted

1917 Collins-McCarthy (E135) - #2 Alexander, #12 Bancroft, #18 Burns, #23 Byrne, #35 Cravath, #93 Killefer, #96 Lavender, #102 Luderus, #110 Mayer, #114 McInnis, #128 Niehoff, #130 Paskert, #139 Rixey, #169 Stock, #188 Whitted
1919-21 W514 - #11 Cravath, #27 Fisher, #40 Bancroft (Quakers variation), #48 Davis, #55 Paskert, #71 Dillhoefer, #92 Whitted, #117 Pendergast

1887-1909 Phillies Want List / 1920-1929 Phillies Want List

1911 T205 Gold Border Chas. S. Dooin

Back in the day, before the internet made it possible to click and buy just about any baseball card your budget could afford, we relied on four sources to add “vintage” cards to our collections – 1) Trades with friends, 2) Local hobby shops, 3) Baseball card shows or 4) Mail order.  For the fourth option, I scoured the advertisements of Baseball Cards magazine and the tabloid newspaper-style Sports Collectors Digest daydreaming about ordering bulk lots of older baseball cards.  I remember that the ads for the far-off, West Coast-based Kit Young Cards were amazing – even awe-inspiring.  I don’t remember the first time we ever ordered from Kit Young, but my detailed purchase logs for my 1956 Topps set and several 1970’s Topps sets show that he was responsible for adding several “vintage” cards to my collection – via my parents as birthday presents or via Santa under the tree on Christmas morning.

I found myself browsing through Kit Young’s on-line store recently, and I pulled the trigger on the card you see here – a 1911 T205 Gold Border tobacco card of long-time Phillie, Charles “Red” Dooin.  The card is amazing.  It’s now by far the oldest card in my collection and it’s the first actual pre-war tobacco card I possess.  It’s thinner than I thought it would be and it might be my imagination, but I think it smells a little like tobacco.  Or it could just be the previous owner was a heavy smoker, but that’s less romantic, isn’t it?  And yes, I smell my old baseball cards.

I’m extremely happy to have this 100-year-old card in my collection, but even happier that it cost me less than a blaster box of 2011 Topps Whatever from Target.  I know there aren’t many more Phillies baseball cards out there from the turn of the last century within my modest budgetary means, but it will be fun to try to track a few more of these down.

(Santa: If you’re reading this, I have a few other suggestions for you.  If you check your list, you’ll see that I’ve been pretty good this year.  E-mail or text me.  Thanks.)

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Dooin, born in 1879, played 13 seasons with the Phillies from 1902 to 1914 as the team’s primary catcher.  He also managed the club from 1910 to 1914, compiling a winning record of 392-370.  He’s credited with helping develop Grover Cleveland Alexander into the Hall of Fame pitcher he’d become.  Dooin played in 1,219 games for the Phillies, catching in 1,124 of those games.  Only Mike Lieberthal has caught in more games for the franchise.  He hit .241 with 10 home runs and 335 RBIs for the Phillies before wrapping up his career with the Cincinnati Reds and New York Giants in 1915 and 1916.  His career trajectory is somewhat similar to that of Lieberthal’s – both were long-time catchers for the Phillies and they both left the franchise the year before the team made it into postseason after long dry spells.  In Dooin’s case, the Phillies lost to the Red Sox in the 1915 World Series and in Lieberthal’s case, the Phillies lost to the Rockies in the 2007 N.L.D.S.  Dooin passed away in 1952, at the age of 72.