Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Polo Grounds Game (WG4)
Year	1914
Size	2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″
Images	Color
Type	Game Cards
Number in Set	54

1914 Polo Grounds Set Overview

The 1914 WG4 Polo Grounds set is a gaming card set featuring 30 different players. The fronts included a black and white player image with specific actions for the game around the borders while the backs included a picture of the iconic Polo Grounds Stadium. While the pictures of players are black and white, the picture of the stadium is printed in green ink.

The set is known today as the Polo Grounds game set. However, that is not its real name. The set is actually called All-Star Card Baseball, as indicated on the box it was distributed in and the instructions sheet. It was distributed by the Card Baseball Company, Inc., located in Norfolk, Virginia. The red box it was packaged in contains gold foil lettering with a generic picture of a batter and a pitcher. A small game board of a playing field was printed inside of the box to simulate actual game play. Small game ‘pegs’ to serve as baserunners was also included in the full game.

Many game cards are less popular as the majority used generic subjects. But this set featuring some of baseball’s biggest names at the time is one of the more sought after game sets.

There are plenty of big names here and like other gaming cards, these are affordable ways to buy stars. The Joe Jackson card is generally the biggest prize here due in part to the small number of times he was featured in sets. But the set has plenty of other big names, including Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Honus Wagner, and others. While Cobb’s card rivals that of Jackson’s in terms of popularity, Jackson’s is perhaps a bit more desirable simply because he has so few cards.

Cards measure approximately 2 1/2″ by 3 1/2″ and are ‘standard size’ issues. Like most game cards they have rounded corners, which makes finding them in mid-grade or even high-grade condition, somewhat easily.

The cards are somewhat rare. To date, PSA has not graded even 1,000 of them. Despite that, as game cards, they are less expensive than most tobacco or candy issues. Commons in this set start around $10-$15 in decent shape.

While 30 different players make up the set, the entire actual set consists of a total of 54 cards as several players were featured more than one time.

1914 Polo Grounds Set Checklist

While 54 cards are technically in the set, a 55th card technically exists as a promotional sale/game card.

1. Jimmy Archer – Ball
2. Home Run Baker – Hit
3. Frank Chance – Ball
4. Larry Cheney – Strike
5. Larry Cheney – Strike
6. Ty Cobb – Hit
7. Ty Cobb – Hit
8. Eddie Collins – Ball
9. Eddie Collins – Ball
10. Eddie Collins – Strike
11. Larry Doyle – Ball
12. Larry Doyle – Ball
13. Larry Doyle – Foul
14. Art Fletcher – Ball
15. Art Fletcher – Ball
16. Art Fletcher – Strike
17. Claude Hendrix – Hit
18. Claude Hendrix – Strike
19. Joe Jackson – Hit
20. Hughie Jennings – Strike
21. Nap Lajoie – Hit
22. Jimmy Lavender – Hit
23. Jimmy Lavender – Strike
24. Fritz Maisel – Hit Batsman
25. Rabbit Maranville – Ball
26. Rube Marquard – Ball
27. Rube Marquard – Ball
28. Rube Marquard – Ball
29. Christy Mathewson – Strike
30. Christy Mathewson – Strike
31. Christy Mathewson – Strike
32. John McGraw – Strike
33. Stuffy McInnis – Ball
34. Chief Meyers – Ball
35. Red Murray – Hit
36. Red Murray – Strike
37. Eddie Plank – Ball
38. Eddie Plank – Ball
39. Nap Rucker – Ball
40. Reb Russell – Hit
41. Reb Russell – Strike
42. Wildfire Schulte – Hit
43. Wildfire Schulte – Strike
44. Jim Scott – Ball
45. Tris Speaker – Hit
46. Tris Speaker – Hit
47. Honus Wagner – Hit
48. Honus Wagner – Hit
49. Honus Wagner – Hit
50. Honus Wagner – Strike
51. Ed Walsh – Ball
52. Ed Walsh – Ball
53. Smoky Joe Wood – Hit
54. Smoky Joe Wood – Strike

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