#295 Phil Cavarretta

#295 Phil Cavarretta
Progress: 1st of this card
302 of 407  74.2% complete
How acquired: $5.63 on eBay
Condition: Poor

I made a couple of discoveries in pursuit of this card.  The first, was that Phil Cavarretta cards are expensive.  The other was that Phil Caverretta was a very good baseball player.  His career spanned from 1934-1955 (not exactly my wheel house), and included twenty seasons with the Cubs.  In 2007 a popular Cubs blog, Bleed Cubbie Blue, named him the 11th greatest Cub of all-time (that may be subject to some change given recent events).  While his career numbers didn't quite equate to a place in Cooperstown, he was no slouch in his prime, winning the batting title and NL MVP award in 1945 (though it probably should have been awarded to Tommy Holmes).  He also played in three World Series with the Cubs picking up twenty hits.  That could very well be a franchise record.

At the time of Cavaretta's death in 2010, he held the distinction of being the last living player to have played against Babe Ruth.  On May 12, 1935, the Cubs beat the Boston Braves 4-1.  Ruth went 0 for 2 with two strikeouts.  Cavaretta for his part went 1 for 4.

Stats: 22 seasons, 4x All-Star, 1945 NL MVP, 1,977 hits, 95 HR, 920 RBI, .293 avg.

Best Hall of Fame Showing: 35.6% in 1975