After a mixed reception to its 1938 Horrors of War trading card set, Jacob Bowman's Gum, Inc. turned its attention to sports cards with the release of its 1939 Play Ball baseball card set.
If the name Bowman sounds familiar, it should...
After World War II, Bowman retired the Gum Inc. brand and began producing sports cards again under the Bowman brand in 1948.
Since then, Bowman has been one of the biggest brands in sports cards.
But it all started with 1939 Play Ball.
The first of a trilogy of Play Ball sets, the 2-1/2" x 3-1/8" cards featured black and white photography surrounded by a thick border.
They may be simple in design, but they are widely considered one of the last great pre-War sets.
And in this guide, we'll take a look at the 15 most valuable.
Let's jump right in!
1939 Play Ball #92 Ted Williams Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Value: $9,000
Ted Williams had the confidence of a 20-year veteran before his big-league debut in 1939.
His bravado was not misguided.
Months after running roughshod over the American Association and winning its Triple Crown, the 20-year-old right fielder debuted at Yankee Stadium as a member of the hated Boston Red Sox.
Williams stood on the same field as eleven fellow Hall-of-Famers and never seemed any the wiser.
He went 1-for-4 in his April 20th debut, bouncing a double off the right field wall.
It was the first 2,654 base knocks for the greatest hitter ever.
It was also the first salvo of an absolutely wild rookie season.
Williams finished fourth in the AL MVP race for the second-place Sox, pacing the Majors in RBIs (144) while topping the Junior Circuit in total bases (344).
Pitchers feared Williams, as evidenced by his twelve intentional walks.
And, for good reason: the Boston phenom hit .327 with a 1.045 OPS, the first of seventeen consecutive .300/1.000 campaigns.
1939 Play Ball #26 Joe DiMaggio
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Value: $4,250
The "Yankee Clipper" was unveiled in 1939.
It was also the year of one of the most spellbinding MVP seasons in history.
Joe DiMaggio came into the '39 campaign as a household name, having won three consecutive top-eight MVP finishes and a World Series title in his first three MLB seasons.
Year four was even better.
Dubbed the "Clipper" by Yankees play-by-play man Arch McDonald in reference to the speedy, powerful Pan-American airliner, DiMaggio was a revelation on the level of the Ruths and Gehrigs of the world.
The 24-year-old center fielder won his first of two straight batting titles with a .381 average.
Only twelve other Big League players have matched that mark.
DiMaggio also tallied 30 home runs, 32 doubles, 108 runs, and 126 RBIs to walk away with his first of two MVP awards.
DiMaggio also left with his fourth Series ring after a resounding four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds.
He hit .313 with a homer, three runs, and three RBIs in the winning effort.
1939 Play Ball #56 Hank Greenburg
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Value: $400
The world underwent a significant transformation between the 1938 and 1939 MLB seasons.
In 1938, the rise of Adolf Hitler was a distant concern for many Americans.
By the conclusion of the 1939 campaign, World War II was underway, and there was plenty to fear.
For those of Jewish descent in the United States, the fight was a heartwrenching one.
This included Detroit Tigers superstar Hank Greenberg, who admitted ignorance of Hitler's machinations before the start of the War.
Once it all became clear, Greenberg did his part as both a baseball celebrity and a member of the Jewish community.
"As time went by, I came to feel that if I, as a Jew, hit a home run, I was hitting one against Hitler," Greenberg said.
Greenberg hit 33 for third-place Detroit in 1939, following up his MLB-best 58 the year before.
He'd go on to serve the country at the end of WWII, missing the 1942 through 1944 baseball seasons.
1939 Play Ball #103 Moe Berg
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Value: $350
The odyssey of Moe Berg is impossible to sum up in such a short space.
Berg may or may not have infiltrated Japanese soil to take vital photos of the country's infrastructure for the CIA.
After his playing days, he was brought into the Office of Strategic Services and tasked with, among other things, parachuting into Yugoslavia as part of an intelligence operation.
Berg allegedly spoke twelve languages fluently and refused the Medal of Merit because he could not tell his colleagues why he earned it.
He was quite eccentric, and everyone had an oddball story about him.
He was also a lousy hitter who somehow sauntered through 15 Major League seasons.
A strong defensive backstop, Berg was well below replacement level at the dish.
His final season came in 1939, ending a confounding MLB run that may or may not have been related to his government ties.
It remains unclear, as many things to do with Berg.
1939 Play Ball #51 Mel Ott
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Value: $300
The New York Giants were firmly on a downward trend when Mel Ott was named team captain in 1939.
After three pennant wins in five seasons from 1933-37 and a 1933 Series win, the Giants embarked on a 13-year drought from 1938 through the 1950 campaign.
Ott took over the field captainship when Polo Grounds attendance was tanking and fan loyalty was wavering.
That's not to say that Ott was individually brilliant.
The 30-year-old right fielder and third baseman was named to his sixth consecutive All-Star Game in 1939 and led the AL in on-base percentage (.449) for the second straight season.
Ott broke the .300 barrier for the fifth time in six tries (.308) while posting 27 home runs, 80 RBIs, and 85 runs.
He also drew 100 walks for the fourth consecutive year despite playing in just 125 games due to injury.
Ott was molten hot, even when the Giants were not.
1939 Play Ball #30 Bill Dickey
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Value: $215
Bill Dickey didn't need to hit to be one of the most valuable players in the Major Leagues.
He still did, though.
Dickey was the catching centerpiece of the Golden Era of New York Yankees baseball, wearing the mask for eight World Series championships in his 17-year career.
1939 was the sixth of those triumphs.
The six-time All-Star and sixth-place MVP finisher cracked the .300 mark for the tenth time in eleven campaigns (.302) while putting together a 20-homer/100 RBI effort (24/105) for the fourth year in a row.
That's reason enough to put Dickey high up on the MVP ballot.
Throw in his reputation as the game's best pitch caller and defensive catcher, complete with a league-best 571 put-outs and .989 fielding percentage, and the 32-year-old was indispensable.
This included during the Yankees' '39 Series sweep of the Reds, in which Dickey posted a .989 OPS with two home runs and five RBIs.
1939 Play Ball #50 Charlie Gehringer
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Value: $180
Charlie Gehringer is often forgotten among other Hall-of-Famer headliners of the 1920s and 1930s.
It shouldn't be that way.
The Detroit Tigers second baseman hit .300 in thirteen of his first fifteen seasons, earned MVP votes in 13 straight years, and won an AL MVP (1937) and a World Series title (1935).
Gehringer was the anchor that steadied the Detroit Tigers through lean and fruitful times.
He was an enterprising businessman, a successful businessman, and, by most accounts, a stand-up guy.
Gehringer is a forgotten man among many baseball fans.
Yet, that can't erase his cache of brilliant campaigns, including his 1937 outing.
The 36-year-old veteran posted a .325/.423/.544 slash line with 16 home runs, 29 doubles, six triples, 86 runs, and 86 RBIs in 118 games.
He earned down-ballot MVP consideration despite missing out on his first All-Star Game since 1932.
1939 Play Ball #53 Carl Hubbell
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Value: $180
From a pre-sabermetric lens, Carl Hubbell's 1939 season was just another step on a downward slope.
In an era where wins and losses meant more than anything for a starting pitcher, the New York Giants lefty went from a league leader to two games over the .500 mark.
Such a narrow view of Hubbell's outstanding campaign is a disservice.
The fifth-place Giants were a non-factor in the 1939 pennant race, finishing just three games above .500.
Hubbell accounted for two of those three at 11-9.
The 36-year-old pitched to a 2.75 ERA in 29 starts with 10 complete games.
He finished 44% over replacement level in terms of OPS+ and pitched to an elite 1.130 WHIP.
He was limited to 154.0 innings due to various ailments, but those frames were award-caliber.
Hubbell's fall from grace started in 1940, with 1939 being the final great year of his Cooperstown run.
1939 Play Ball #7 Bobby Doerr
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Value: $150
After a mediocre rookie season in 1938, you'd think Bobby Doerr would have worked through the winter toward a better year in 1939.
Instead, Doerr took a five-month vacation to keep his mind right and his body rested.
"I never did work in the offseason, and I never did play winter ball or anything else," Doerr said "I think it was good for me to get away after a full season."
Whereas other players needed to work out and stay fresh on the diamond, Doerr was a natural talent who let it fly and let it be.
You can't argue with the results.
After posting a sub-replacement 86 OPS+ in '38, the 20-year-old second baseman took the first step towards stardom with a 104 sophomore effort.
The Boston Red Sox wunderkind posted a .813 OPS with 12 home runs, 28 doubles, two triples, 75 runs, and 73 RBIs in 127 games.
His .318 average stands as the second-best of his Cooperstown career.
1939 Play Ball #48 Lefty Gomez
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Value: $140
Lefty Gomez's career was never the same after the 1939 MLB season.
Entering the campaign as a multi-time All-Star and two-time pitching Triple Crown winner, the legendary New York Yankees lefty was at the top of his Hall-of-Fame powers.
That changed on May 10th.
Gomez was flattened on a routine cover of first and injured his back.
He missed one game and reeled off five straight wins, easing into a seventh Midsummer Classic appearance.
The 30-year-old remained atop the list of the game's best hurlers, with no end in sight.
However, Gomez's back problem had ramifications that stained the rest of his playing days.
The issues lingered for years, forcing him to unconsciously shift his pitching approach.
This eventually led to some nasty arm issues and a painful march toward retirement.
Gomez concluded his final All-Star year at 12-8 with a 3.41 ERA.
He pitched just one inning in the '39 World Series, surrendering three hits and a run.
1939 Play Ball #6 Leo Durocher
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Value: $100
Leo Durocher was never a good hitter.
In fact, he was never even a replacement-level hitter.
Durocher posted a career OPS+ of 66 over seventeen Big League seasons.
He provided 2/3 of the production of his contemporaries and managed just 24 home runs in 5,829 plate appearances.
As light as his bat was, the future Hall-of-Fame manager made up for it with a bevy of spectacular plays at the six.
In 1939, Durocher was in year 13 of his career and year 2 of his time with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
It was a fine campaign in which the 33-year-old posted career bests in OPS (.695) and OPS+ (83).
His .957 fielding percentage and 25 errors don't quite hold up, but the eye test at shortstop was plenty enough to earn him recognition as a top-ten MVP finisher.
It was the last impactful season of Durocher's playing career.
He played 116 games in '39 and appeared in just 88 more contests overall due to injury and advancing age.
1939 Play Ball #55 Arky Vaughan
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Value: $100
Arky Vaughan was a poor fielder for most of his Hall-of-Fame career.
His bat absolved any blame.
Vaughan made eight All-Star teams as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates and won a batting title in 1935.
He was never a home run hitter of note, and his errors were plenty, yet Vaughn used his speed and sweet swing to cancel that all out.
Coming off a top-three MVP placement and a narrow pennant miss in 1938, Vaughan saw a drop-off in overall production.
His .306 batting average stood as a new career-worst, coinciding with Pittsburgh's freefall to the lower class of the National League.
Vaughan was still quite a threat, though.
Named to his sixth All-Star team, the Cooperstown legend posted double-digit triples (11) for the seventh time in eight Big League seasons.
He added 30 doubles, six homers, 12 stolen bases, 70 walks, 94 runs, and 62 RBIs in 152 games for the sixth-place Pirates.
1939 Play Ball #89 Lloyd Waner
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Value: $100
Lloyd Waner's best chance at a World Series title slipped through his fingers in 1938.
The air leaked from the tires from then on.
Besides a four-and-out Series appearance in 1927, the Pittsburgh Pirates were an NL also-ran throughout Waner's Cooperstown career.
The sour taste of his October debut lingered for a decade and was only worsened by a handful of second-place pennant finishes.
The worst of these runner-up runs came in 1938.
Pittsburgh held a two-game lead on the Chicago Cubs with a week to play before dropping six of seven to lose the pennant.
A first-time All-Star in '38, Waner posted a sterling .992 fielding percentage in center during his follow-up campaign.
However, it wasn't enough to paper over his hitting decline from a 104 OPS+ to 79.
Wanner played in 112 games for the suddenly awful Pirates and played no more than 102 in the half-decade to follow.
1939 Play Ball #143 Earl Averill
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Value: $100
Earl Averill was five-foot-nine of pure hitting prowess.
The diminutive center fielder notched six All-Star appearances and three top-four MVP nods over a decade-plus with a so-so Cleveland Indians squad.
He hit .322 with the Tribe from 1929-39, including a .378 mark during the 1937 campaign.
By the middle of the '39 season, things were winding to a close.
Averill's age and list of bumps and bruises made him expendable.
The Indians desperately needed pitching and used the 37-year-old Averill as trade bait to get their man, dealing the Hall-of-Famer to Detroit on June 14th for lefty Harry Eisenstat.
Averill slashed a career-worst .264/.353/.464 in 111 games between the Indians and Tigers with 11 home runs, 28 doubles, six triples, 66 runs, and 65 RBIs.
He transitioned to a platoon role in 1940 and helped to lift the Tigers to within one win of a World Series championship.
1939 Play Ball #3 Red Ruffing
Estimated PSA 5 NM-MT Value: $100
Red Ruffing was a savvy baseball businessman.
Ruffing went from a net negative with the Boston Red Sox in the late 1920s to a front-of-the-rotation force for the juggernaut Yankees of the 30s.
As the dynasty brought home title after title, the Hall-of-Famer became one of the game's most dominant starting pitchers.
If anybody knew how valuable Ruffing was, it was him.
He constantly held out for more money, earning himself regular raises en route to a $28,000 salary in 1939.
Only the great Lou Gehrig was paid more than him.
The Yankees got their money's worth.
Now a three-time All-Star, Ruffing went 21-7 with a sparkling 2.93 ERA.
He led all AL starters with five shutouts on his way to fifth place in the AL MVP race.
Ruffing topped off his stellar year with a one-run, four-hit complete game win in Game 1 of the World Series.
The Yankees rode the momentum to a four-game sweep of the Reds and a fourth straight championship.
1939 Play Ball Baseball Cards In Review
Given it contains the Ted Williams rookie card and many other big-name Hall of Famers while being one of the last great pre-War sets, it's hard to say anything negative about 1939 Play Ball.
Perhaps the only drawback is that some of the most recognizable Hall of Famers of the day, like Lou Gehrig, Bob Feller, Johnny Mize, Luke Appling, Joe Cronin, and Ernie Lombardi, are missing.
That may have been intentional, though, rather than by mistake.
At the bottom of the reverse side of every card in this set is a short blurb stating, "This is one of a series of 250 pictures of leading baseball players."
Yet, the checklist only contains 161 cards.
It could be that Gehrig, Feller, and those other big names
were part of a checklist initially planned to be 250 cards in size.
But, for some unknown reason, Bowman decided to shorten the checklist, and those guys didn't make the cut.
Despite those omissions, this set's importance cannot be understated.
The 1939-1941 Play Ball sets were the last primary links between the Goudey cards of the early-mid 30s and the Bowman and Leaf sets of the late 40s.