1941 Play Ball #5 Frank McCormick

First up, go vote in the last group of the first round of the brackets in the Red Cardboard Ugstravaganza.

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What's that? An early 40's card of a an NL MVP and a Reds Hall of Famer? Yes, please.

The set: Play Ball produced cards from 1939-1941, stopped during WWII, then came back in 1948, re-christened as Bowman. This is the only of the three sets in color, but were basically paint-by-number versions of the 1940 black-and-white photo releases. The mere 72 card set contains four Reds, this being my first.

The player: Frank "Buck" McCormick played ten of his thirteen big-league seasons for the Reds. He was a member of eight All-Star teams, two World Series teams (including the winning 1940 Reds squad) and was the  National League MVP in 1940, beating out Johnny Mize. Fun fact: the 1940 NL MVP voting included three Reds in the top four, five in the top ten, and six overall. Not a bad year in Cincy, boy I tell ya. McCormick also once held the record for consecutive error-free games at first base with 131 and remains the last National League player to lead the league in hits for three straight years. He was a part of the Reds Hall of Fame's inaugural class of 1958.

Go Reds.