Al Lein bounced around the low minors as a Yankee farmhand during the late 30s before settling in with the San Francisco Seals for a dozen years. He proved a durable arm and averaged almost 40 games pitched during his decade with the team, serving as both starter and spot reliever (career stats at B-R.com).
The Bay Area's Sommer and Kaufmann chain, sellers of boys and mens clothing, sponsored this set of San Francisco Seals in the same mold as "competing" team sets from nearby Oakland businesses. (Links go to previous #5 profiles.)
- 1946 Remar Bread Oakland Oaks - Hersh Martin
- 1947 Remar Bread Oakland Oaks - Mickey Burnett
- 1947 Smith's Clothing Oakland Oaks - Ray Hamrick
- 1948 Smith's Clothing Oakland Oaks - Lloyd Christopher
With so few Sommer and Kaufmann singles in today's market, I assume the store printed small quantities compared to Smith's and Remar. Count yourself lucky if you've already snagged one as a type card!
Value: This low-grade #5 closed at $65 in its eBay auction, well above the NM guide price. Enough vintage collectors go after team and PCL issues today to make this a high-demand, volatile set.
Fakes / reprints: Haven't seen any in the marketplace, but they might exist, given overall rarity.
4 comments:
I saw several of these (cards from the set - not necessarily #5) at the local show last weekend. I probably should have bought one for my collection while I had the chance, if they're that tough to find outside of the SF area. They look a lot like the Remar and Smiths issues of the same period for the Oaks, so I passed figuring I could have found one cheaper (as I did with the Remar and Smiths).
That's encouraging that at least one area has some around. Few show up on eBay, but maybe they're the kind of set that stayed with PCL collectors and fans instead of reaching dealers. Do you remember how much they were asking at the show?
The St Leander show is a great place to find PCL issues for sure. Lots of collectors of PCL cards around here. I wish I remember exactly what they cost but I think it was $10-$20 per card depending on condition.
Hey, not bad! I'd definitely put $10-20 on a #5 (or type card), given the lack of them at East Coast shows.
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