1941 Play Ball Lou Boudreau

Cleveland Indians CTNW Fan Favorites #5

I'm putting together 5 "Cards That Never Were" fan favorites from each team. These are not necessarily the 5 best players from the franchise. So as David Letterman used to say before Stupid Pet Tricks, "This is only an exhibition. This is not a competition. Please, no wagering."

Lou Boudreau played for the Indians from 1938-1950. From 1942-1950 he was also the Manager. It is hard to imagine a 24 year old managing in the big leagues today. He managed the Indians to their last World Series title in 1948. The Indians only other title came in 1920. They would make 3 more World Series appearances in 1954, 1995, and 1997 losing all three.

My memory of Lou was as the radio voice of the Cubs along with Vince Lloyd when I was a kid. 

Upon Further Review....

Ok, maybe some of these cards were done before.

I was on ebay looking for cards and came accross this:

This is an original sketch with an asking price of $299. Much better than my version. 

It made me think. Which other cards were done before?

So I googled the cards I made and this is what I found:

This was on a message board called "The Bench" under a thread called "Topps Cards That Never Were". This guy not only made the card but he graded it too. (Why only a 7?) Here's mine:

Next I found this:

This was on Amazon and it says that it was issued in 1995. Again the artwork is really nice. Not to nit-pick but, Aaron wasn't on the Braves in 1952 and the Braves were not in Milwaukee in 1952. Here is my version:

Next I found one that I really don't know how I missed. It is on Bob Lemke's Blog. I actually follow his blog and enjoy his cards. He does an artistic and professional job. Mine are for my own amusement. I really like his version. Not only is it a nice looking picture but the background is similar to Chuck Klein's 1941 Play Ball card and kind of reminiscent of the 1933 Tattoo Orbits. Here is his card:

I am almost ashamed to put mine up next to his but here it goes:

I found this for sale also on eBay:

It's a 2010 card from Monarch Corona. I never heard of them before. Here is my version:

At least nobody else made a 1979 Bobby Douglass.

1941 Play Ball Dizzy Dean

Dizzy Dean played for the Chicago Cubs from 1938-1941. He pitched game 2 of the 1938 World Series giving up 2 homer in a losing effort. The Yankees Swept the Cubs in 4 games. There were no Cubs at all in the 1941 Play Ball series. I'm not sure why but it leaves me an opportunity to fill the gap.