So, what’s the easiest back run to complete in the 150-350 series? Chicago White Sox first baseman Jiggs Donahue. Donahue (mis-spelled on his t206 as Donohue) is the only player from the 150-350 series that was not printed with a Hindu, El Principe de Gales or Old Mill back. All other subjects were printed with at least one of those backs, and often more than one.
Here is the complete checklist for Donahue:
- Piedmont 150
- Sovereign 150
- Sweet Caporal 150 factory 25
- Sweet Caporal 150 factory 30
- Piedmont 350
- Sovereign 350
- Sweet Caporal 350 factory 25
- Sweet Caporal 350 factory 30
Donahue had a fairly nondescript career, and it helps to understand why he was not included in the aforementioned print runs. He played a little outfield and catcher in his first 3 seasons, but by the age of 22, was solely a first baseman. In 1904, his first year with the White Sox, he topped 100 games played for the first time. His career batting average (.255) and WAR (13.5) are very solid, but he rarely ranked among the top 10 in any category. In 1905, he was 7th in the A.L. in WAR for position players. He hit .287 that year, which was the 7th best average in the A.L. In 1907 he led the A.L. in games played and at bats. He never approached that number of games again. In 1908 he played just 93 and followed it up with 86 in 1909, his final year.
When production began in 1909, there was no way to know that it would be Donahue’s last year in Major League Baseball. He was just 29. So, his initial inclusion in the set makes sense. He was a young regular on one of the premier teams in the league. It also makes sense that he was omitted from the Hindu print run. For reasons unknown, only 102 of the 150 series subjects were printed with a Hindu back. So, 48 players were left off the Hindu print run. After his part-time duty in 1908, he seems like a logical candidate to be omitted. In 1910, when it came time to choose which players would be used for the EPDG and Old Mill print runs, Donahue was out of baseball and he was not printed with either back.
The thing that really doesn’t make sense is, “Why was he printed with a Sovereign 350 back when he was omitted from all of the other non-Piedmont/Sweet Caporal runs?” Only 80 subjects from the 150-350 series were used for the Sovereign 350 series. That means they chose not to use about half of the players from Print Group One. Many players who were still in the big leagues were printed with a Sovereign 150 back, but not with a Sovereign 350 back. Some players such as Bill Bergen, Wid Conroy, and Doc Crandall were left off the Sovereign 350 print run and then had another pose released later on in T206 production. So clearly, some players were left off the Sovereign 350 print run who were still popular Major Leaguers. It’s a mystery why Donahue was one of the players chosen for inclusion in the Sovereign 350 print run. Vive Lindaman, whose career ended in 1909 as well was pulled from production in 1910 right after being included in the EPDG print run, and right in the middle of the Piedmont 350 run.
Every front/back combo on Donahue’s checklist is readily available, making it a good choice for an easy introduction into collecting a back run. The card itself is one of the most beautiful from the 150-350 series in my opinion. Heck, maybe that is the reason they decided to continue to include it in 1910 print runs? We’ll probably never know the reason, but it is fun to speculate.