National Baseball Card

National Baseball Card

Who was Hal Chase? As his biographer, Don Dewey, points out in The Black Prince of Baseball, nobody really knew Hal Chase, not even his descendants.(1) Not exactly a touchy feely individual, Chase wasn't close to anybody. He cut a dashing figure, but the figure was empty. You could be best mates with him, until you found out everybody else was too. A gambler, a womanizer, a manipulator and the finest fielding first baseman in the AL during his career, admittedly Chase led the league in errors a few years, but the errors belie his efforts to create outs. Making failed dives for the ball and whisking throws to unready teammates counted as errors. The press loved his gall and charming personality. They ate it up, and blamed others if Chase's image was tarnished.

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In 1913, the errors of Chase's ways caught up with him. A mainstay with the Highlanders/Yankees, Chase had the New York Americans owner, Frank Farrell, wrapped around his finger. Chase threatens to jump teams; Farrell raises his salary. Chase doesn't like the new manager; Farrell deems Chase the new manager. After Chase failed to produce a winning record, Farrell recruited Frank Chance, the successful, tough as nails former manager of the Chicago Cubs to lead the Yankees. Chance found Chase as a detriment to the Yankees. Aided by his stature in the baseball community, Chance pressured Farrell to trade Chase or else. Farrell acquiesced and traded Chase to the White Sox for two bench warmers.

Chase stayed with the White Sox for one year, then went to the Federal League for two years, then the Reds, then the Giants, burning bridges, throwing games and ruining careers as he went. The beginning of the end of Price Hal's glam reputation began with his trade to the White Sox, and the cards from the 1912 National Game card game and the 1913 Tom Barker card game depict the transition. The two games share all of their baseball images, except for Chase's card. He was a big enough star then to warrant the new card, but, due to an increasingly soiled reputation, he never found a stable baseball home again.