We know that George Mullin’s horizontal (or throwing) pose was pulled early in the Piedmont 350 print run and subsequently left off the print runs of Sovereign 350 and Old Mill entirely. What we don’t know is why. Mullin Throwing is a member of the “Elite 11” subset. The Poses in this subset share the same characteristics:
- They were printed with El Principe de Gales backs. In my opinion it is likely that most, if not all of the Elite 11 poses were printed for the entire EPDG print run. That is debatable though, and some collectors feel these poses were pulled early from the EPDG print run.
- They were all certainly pulled early from Piedmont 350 production
- None of the 11 poses were printed with Sovereign 350, Sweet Caporal 350, or Old Mill backs
Many T206 back collectors have memorized the list below. Something I don’t think many people have considered is, “Why is Mullin included in this group?” All the other poses make sense, but Mullin sticks out like a sore thumb.
The “Elite 11”
- Dahlen (Boston)
- Ewing
- Ganley
- Jones, Tom
- Karger
- Lindaman
- Lundgren Chicago
- Mullin horizontal
- Schaefer (Detroit)
- Shaw, Al
- Spencer
I’ll give a quick rundown of the reasons American Tobacco Company would have had for pulling each of the other 10 members of the “Elite 11” from Piedmont 350 production early. After that, we’ll take a look at why Mullin’s early exit from the Piedmont 350 print run is particularly curious.
Bill Dahlen
Released by the Boston Doves on October 23, 1909 and joined Brooklyn the following year. The artwork on his card was changed to reflect his new team and Dahlen (Brooklyn) took the place of Dahlen (Boston) for the remainder of the Piedmont 350 print run and SC 350 Sov350 and Old Mill print runs.
Bob Ewing
Traded from Cincinnati to the Philadelphia Phillies on January 20, 1910.
Bob Ganley
Selected off waivers by the Philadelphia Athletics on May 18, 1909.
Tom Jones
Traded to the Detroit Tigers on August 20, 1909.
Ed Karger
Purchased by St. Paul on June 9, 1909. He was then traded to the Boston Red Sox on July 26, 1909.
Vive Lineman
Played his final game in the Major Leagues in 1909.
Carl Lundgren
Played his final game in the Majors in 1909.
Germany Schaefer
Traded from Detroit to Washington on August 13, 1909.
Al Shaw
Played his last Major League game in 1909.
Tubby Spencer
Played just 28 games with the Boston Red Sox in 1909 and did not play in the Majors in 1910.
As you can see, there is a clear reason behind the early exit of each of the other 10 members of the “Elite 11” from the Piedmont 350 print run. But what about Mullin? He doesn’t share any characteristics with the 10 players above.
In 1909, he was at the top of his game. He appeared in 40 games, compiling a record of 29-8 to go with a 2.22 ERA. He led the American League in both Wins and Win Percentage. In the 1909 World Series, he appeared in four games, posting a record of 2-1 to go with a 2.25 ERA.
In 1910, he turned in another strong campaign, appearing in 38 games with a record of 21-12 and an ERA of 2.87.
Unlike the other 10 players, there is no obvious reason why ATC would have pulled Mullin’s (Throwing) pose from production. In fact, shortly after pulling this pose, they began printing his (Portrait) in the 350 Only Series and followed that with his (With Bat) pose soon after as part of the 350-460 Series.
Mullin’s (Portrait) features his name spelled as “Mullen”. One possible explanation for the early exit of his (Throwing) pose is ALC thought it had spelled his name wrong on the (Throwing) pose. This scenario makes some sense, as ALC spelled his name “Mullen” just months after pulling the (Throwing) pose from production prematurely. Not too long after that, they began producing his (With Bat) pose and again spelled his name “Mullin”, so I’m not sure we can say anything definitively about ALC’s thoughts with regard to the spelling of his name. In addition, there is precedent for ALC making a minor name change when dealing with a star player’s card (Sherry Magee’s “Magie” card). I would think George Mullin would have qualified as a star in the same way Magee did in 1910.
When I first got the idea to write this article, I hoped that Pat Romolo’s Piedmont 150 Plate Scratch research would shed some light on the topic. The Plate Scratch sheets that Pat recreated explain why the “150 Only” subjects were pulled from production early. I hoped I’d find something similar when I looked for Mullin (Throwing) on Pat’s Plate Scratch sheets. Unfortunately, the recreated sheet doesn’t offer any clues. Mullin (Throwing) is located in the top left corner of the sheet above. The image above is too small to show detail, so please click on the link below:
Piedmont 150 Plate Scratch “Sheet 3” featuring Mullin (Throwing)
The graphic below shows a small section of the sheet where Mullin is located. As you can see, Schaefer (Detroit) is located two to the left of Mullin. When I first saw Schaefer, I thought there might be a pattern. However, those hopes were quickly dashed by Mullin’s proximity to Donlin (Seated) and L. Tannehill, which were not pulled from production.
We may never know the exact reason for Mullin’s early exit, but like so many pieces of the T206 puzzle, it’s fun to try and piece it together.
