- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Detroit
- Team: Wolverines
- League: National League
Abram Harding Richardson (1855-1931). Primarily a 2nd baseman, Hardy played every position at one time or another, even going 3-0 as a pitcher. Playing for 6 different teams over 14 professional seasons, Hardy was an excellent hitter who retired with a .299 lifetime average. Hardy’s best season was 1890 when he hit .326, scored 126 Runs, knocked in 146 runs & stole 42 bases.
- Once hit a home run because the outfielder could not find the ball in the tall grass
- Bill James ranks him as the 39th best 2nd baseman all-time
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: New York
- Team: Giants
- League: National League
Daniel Richardson (1863-1926) played 2B and SS for the Giants, Grooms, Senators, and Colonels over an 11 year span. His stints with the NY Giants included one year when the team played in the Player’s League (’90). He contributed to two Giant league championships in ’88 & ’89.
- During his one year with the Washington Senators, Richardson was player/manager
- Achieved a career BA of .254 and stole 225 bases
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Louisville
- Team: Colonels
- League: American Association
Thomas H. Ramsey (1864-1906). Toad pitched for the Louisville Colonels and St. Louis Browns from 1885-1890. In his rookie season, Ramsey only managed 66 complete games out of 67 starts! His 499 strikeouts that year still stand as the second-most all-time. His career flamed out after two stellar seasons, but Toad Ramsey left records that seem unthinkable today.
- Credited with inventing the knuckleball thanks to a severed tendon in his left index finger
- Died at age 41 of pneumonia in his hometown of Indianapolis
- Ramsey’s uniform color on this card was changed in February, 2017 from black to maroon to reflect recent reliable research by Craig Brown & friends at Threads of Our Game. Nine cards had been previously released featuring a black uniform.
- Series: Beginnings: 1880's
- City: Boston
- Team: Beaneaters
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Charles Gardner Radbourn (1854-1897). An elite pitcher for 5 teams over 12 seasons, Radbourn owns the single-season Wins record with either 59 or 60 (sources vary) in 1884 – the year in which he became baseball’s 2nd triple Crown winner with 441 Ks & a 1.38 ERA. In 1884, Radbourn started 40 of his team’s last 43 games and won 36 of them. In the 1884 World Series, Radbourn started and won all three games, giving up only 3 runs. Including the postseason, Old Hoss won 62-63 games in 1884 and threw over 700 innings.
- NL Triple Crown: 1884
- NL Wins champ: 1883, 1884
- 309 career Wins
- Pitched no-hitter: 1883
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1939
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Boston
- Team: Red Sox
- League: American League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
George Herman Ruth, Jr. (1895-1948) is the Colossus of modern baseball. As pitcher and hitter, Ruth dominated his times as no other athlete, leading his teams to 10 World Series’ appearances and 7 titles in 22 years, winning all three World Series games he pitched with a .87 ERA and belting 15 home runs with a .326 average and 1.214 OPS across his 41 World Series’ games. He rewrote the record book, including most prodigious clouts ever: 575’ in Detroit and the longest HR out of Forbes Field in its 60 year history (his last ML hit). A complex man and player, not all Ruth’s achievements covered him in glory: only man to end a Series by being caught stealing (’23); ejected after walking first batter, giving way to Ernie Shore who allowed no others to reach base; refusing to play the “sun field” after one dropped fly. But oh the hitting! It took Mickey Mantle 18 years at the Stadium to match Ruth’s HRs in 12.
- The Babe was Gargantua incarnate: crude, ferocious, primitive and bigger than life. And also forever young, with a magnificent heart and generous spirit. The Icon of the Age
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1936
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