You really don’t need my review to know this book is a terrific read. All you really need is the book’s full title.
ONE SPLENDID SEASON
Baseball and America in 1912
Told with the Words and Images of the
HASSAN TRIPLEFOLDER SET
After all, if the marriage of one of baseball’s most storied seasons on record and one of the Hobby’s all-time great baseball card sets is not for you, what are you even doing with your life? Or at least what are you even doing reading the SABR Baseball Cards blog?
Author and SABR member Phil Rosenzweig began his love affair with the 1912 Hassan Triplefolders (T202) in 1970. Since that time he has amassed a phenomenal collection, much of which makes it onto the pages of the book in glorious living color.
My first “read” of Phil’s book was a bit haphazard. Mainly I just turned to random pages to marvel at the cards and other images occupying a good 50% of the book’s real estate. As a collector whose primary experience with this set had been browsing the online gallery at Trading Card Database, I can’t overstate the service Phil provides in using actual size, high quality scans of every card. Among other things, this allows for an appreciation of details in the cards’ action photos and complete ease in reading the text on each card back.
Beyond the cards themselves, other images scattered across the pages include the Paul Thompson studio photographs behind the player images, related cards from (especially) the T205 and T206 sets, news clippings or photos related to the game action depicted in center panels, and vintage stadium postcards.
While the visual tour alone made the book a winner, it was in my second read that I really fell in love with what Phil had put together. In a rather genius way, Phil uses the cards and images to provide a near daily account of the 1912 season, from Opening Day through the final game of the World Series.
There is no way to read “One Splendid Season” without drawing two conclusions.
- The author really knows this subject!
- The author really loves this subject!
Regarding the first of these, here is just a sampling, taking from page 12 of the book.
The location of about half the center panels can be identified with certainty. Most common is Cleveland’s League Park, where [Louis] Van Oeyen took photos of George Stovall playing first base, and of runners including Shoeless Joe Jackson sliding into third base. Next is New York’s Hilltop Park where [Charles] Conlon took photos of Hal Chase guarding first base and Jimmy Austin at third base, as well as action shots at home plate. Six center panels appear to show the New York Highlanders’ spring training site in Athens, Georgia, and were likely taken by a young photographer, Sy Seidman.
The relative scarcity of National League games in center panels can be explained by president Thomas Lynch’s 1910 decree to bar photographers from the field during contests. The few center panels of National League games are from 1907 to 1909, before the ban took effect.
If there is any downside to Phil’s book, it is only this. It is very hard to read “One Splendid Season” and not be overcome with a temptation to add a ton of Triplefolders to your cardboard want list. I say this as someone who currently has one of these cards (the “double Nap” featuring a Nap Rucker end panel and Nap Lajoie center panel) in my collection and now feels compelled to collect the entire Brooklyn team set, aside from back variations, that is; I’m not a maniac after all!
In case it’s not clear from the above, I feel certain Phil’s book would be a welcome addition to the bookshelf of any vintage card collector or fan of the game’s history. Head to Phil’s website to order a copy in time for the holidays! And if you haven’t listened already, here is Phil discussing the book and card set on Dr. Jim Beckett’s podcast.
ORDER “A SPLENDID SEASON” HERE: pmrbooks.com/t202
