1934 Goudey Baseball Card Set & Price Guide: Gehrig & Greenberg Lead The Way
1934 Goudey Set Description
Goudey followed up their extremely popular 1933 set with a watered down lineup in 1934. The number of cards in the set was trimmed from 240 to 96 total cards. Babe Ruth, who had 4 different cards in the 1934 set, was left out of the '34 set. Gone were star players having multiple cards, with Lou Gehrig being the lone exception (he had 2 cards). The design of the fronts and backs are similar, and some of the same images were re-used. The big difference in this set was hiring Lou Gehrig as a spokesmen. Instead of the Goudey red banner on the bottom border of the card, Lou's face appears on 84 of the 96 cards in the set. Next to his face reads "Lou Gehrig Says" in cursive. The back of the card has a write up about the player in green font. Cards 85-96 feature another star hall of famers image on the bottom border; Chuck Klein.
Set Information
Manufacturer: Goudey
Year: 1934
Cards in Set: 96
Card Size: 2-3/8" x 2-7/8"
Series
Series 1: 1-96
Notes
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For common cards #73-96 are scarer and more valuable than #1-72
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On cards 1-84, Lou Gehrig is featured on the banner which has him image and states "Lou Gehrig Says"
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On cards 85-96, Chuck Klein is featured and the banner states "Chuck Klein Says"
Key Rookie Cards
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none
Errors and Variations
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No significant errors/variations
Key Cards/Hall of Famers
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Jimmie Foxx (#1)
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Dizzy Dean (#6)
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Lefty Grove (#19)
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Lou Gehrig (#37)
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Lou Gehrig (#61)
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Hank Greenberg (#62)
Subsets
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none
1934 Goudey Price Guide
Lou Gehrig #37
Card Value: low grade $1900 to $5,000, mid grade $6,000 to $15,000, high grade $30,000+
Lou Gehrig #61
Card Value: low grade $1,700 to $4,000, mid grade $6,000 to $13,000, high grade $30,000+
Hank Greenberg #62
Card Value: low grade $500 to $1,400, mid grade $2,500 to $4,000, high grade $6000+
Jimmie Foxx #1
Card Value: low grade $300 to $700, mid grade $1,500 to $2,500, high grade $4,000+
Dizzy Dean #6
Card Value: low grade $350 to $600, mid grade $1,000 to $2,000, high grade $3,000+
A Deeper Look At The 1934 Goudey Set: Gehrig Surpasses Ruth
Lou Gehrig 1934 Goudey Card #37 and #61
Lou Gehrig joined the Yankees in 1923 and became a bonafide star by 1927. That year he hit 47 home runs, batted in 172 runs, and had a batting average of .373. Babe Ruth often overshadowed Gehrig, as he was was not as comfortable in the spotlight as Ruth was. By 1933, Babe Ruth's numbers started to decline. He hit his fewest home runs in a full season since 1919. After the 1934 season The Babe was cut from the Yankees. Goudey saw that Gehrig was becoming the leader of the team and elected to build the set around him. For many years, he held the most consecutive games played- 2130 (1925-1939); a testament to how much he loved the game.
Besides having his face and signature on the majority of the cards in the set, he was also featured in 2 different cards. His first card, #37, is truly a beautiful and classic card. It features "The Iron Horse" in a portrait pose from the shoulders ups with a big grin on his face and bright yellow background. In the player biography on the reverse Lou states that he "Loves the game of baseball and hopes to be batting them out for many years. Fortune has been kind to me". Those who know about baseball history realize the cruel irony of the last statement. Gehrig had to quit baseball in his prime of his career due to an autoimmune disease named after him- Lou Gehrig's disease or ALS. Card #61 features Lou taking a swing with his bat in hand. The background is sea foam green, and prominently features the NY cap and Yankee pinstripes. Low grade examples typically cost several thousand dollars, while high grades run in the tens of thousands.
Hank Greenberg 1934 Goudey Rookie #62
Hank Greenberg was one of the greatest players who is often overlooked by history. He played for the Detroit Tigers from 1933 until 1946 and was a big reason they won the World Series in 1935. Greenberg won 2 MVP awards, one in 1935 and the other in 1940. Each time he led the league in home runs and RBIs. He was an imposing power hitter, standing 6'4''. He finished he career with 331 home runs, 1274 RBIs, and a lifetime batting average of .313. While those numbers might not jump off the page, it is important to remember that he lost almost 4 years in the prime of his career due to World War II. In fact, he was the first Major Leaguer to volunteer to join. His career stats would look significantly different had he not sacrificed for his country. Hank was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1956. His rookie card in the 1934 Goudey Set is certainly is is impressive. It features the broad shouldered Greenberg looking directly out at the camera. The green background compliments the English D on his cap quite nicely. His card in low grade is quite affordable, typically ranging from $500 and up. Higher grades sell for several thousand.
Other Hall of Famers
The 1934 Goudey set contains a fair amount of hall of famers (20/96 cards), however it lacks the big name star power that was featured in the 1933 set. The 1934 set certainly leaves more to be desired. The biggest names after Gehrig and Greenberg are Jimmie Foxx (card #1), Dizzy Dean (card #6), Carl Hubbell (card #12), Left Grove (card # 19), and Charlie Gehringer (card #23).
1934 Goudey Baseball Checklist
1 Jimmy Foxx
2 Gordon (Mickey) Cochrane
3 Charlie Grimm
4 Elwood (Woody) English
5 Ed Brandt
6 Jerome (Dizzy) Dean
7 Leo Durocher
8 Tony Piet
9 Ben Chapman
10 Charles (Chuck) Klein
11 Paul Waner
12 Carl Hubbell
13 Frank Frisch
14 Willie Kamm
15 Alvin Crowder
16 Joe Kuhel
17 Hugh Kritz
18 Henry (Heinie) Manush
19 Robert (Lefty) Grove
20 Frank Hogan
21 Bill Terry
22 Floyd Vaughan
23 Charley Gehringer
24 Ray Benge
25 Roger Cramer
26 Gerald Walker
27 Luke Appling
28 Ed Coleman
29 Larry French
30 Julius Solters
31 Baxter Jordan
32 John (Blondy) Ryan
33 Frank (Don) Hurst
34 Charles (Chick) Hafey
35 Ernie Lombardi
36 Walter (Huck) Betts
37 Lou Gehrig
38 Oral Hildebrand
39 Fred Walker
40 John Stone
41 George Earnshaw
42 John Allen
43 Dick Porter
44 Tom Bridges
45 Oscar Melillo
46 Joe Stripp
47 John Frederick
48 James (Tex) Carleton
49 Sam Leslie
50 Walter Beck
51 Jim (Rip) Collins
52 Herman Bell
53 George Watkins
54 Wesley Schulmerich
55 Ed Holley
56 Mark Koenig
57 Bill Swift
58 Earl Grace
59 Joe Mowry
60 Lynn Nelson
61 Lou Gehrig
62 Henry Greenberg
63 Minter Hayes
64 Frank Grube
65 Cliff Bolton
66 Mel Harder
67 Bob Weiland
68 Bob Johnson
69 John Marcum
70 Ervin (Pete) Fox
71 Lyle Tinning
72 Arndt Jorgens
73 Ed Wells
74 Bob Boken
75 Bill Werber
76 Hal Trotsky
77 Joe Vosmik
78 Frank (Pinkey) Higgins
79 Eddie Durham
80 Marty McManus
81 Bob Brown
82 Bill Hallahan
83 Jim Mooney
84 Paul Derringer
85 Adam Comorosky
86 Lloyd Johnson
87 George Darrow
88 Homer Peel
89 Linus Frey
90 Hazen (Ki-Ki) Cuyler
91 Dolph Camilli
92 Steve Larkin
93 Fred Ostermueller
94 (Red) Rolfe
95 Myril Hoag
96 Jim DeShong