1934 R313-A Gold Medal Foods - William Rogell

Here is the other horizontal composition from the '34 Gold Medal Foods set. Detroit Tigers stalwart shortstop and leadoff hitter, William "Billy" Rogell. One of the many mysteries about the R313-A set centers around the players selected for the 12 card set, or rather the players not selected. William Rogell was certainly a worthy choice in his own right, but when you consider that the two best players on the '34 Tigers and their best pitcher were not included, some might hold a grudge against Billy. But it is not his fault, as far as anyone can tell, that Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer, and Schoolboy Rowe were left out. And a quick read of Rogell's wikipedia page will boost your spirits about him. Even with those three, I might still include Rogell (sorry Jo-Jo, Firpo, and Tommy). If those others were included I'd guess the set would be out of my reach, as it would raise the HOFers from 5 to 8, and Greenberg would do some heavy lifting.

Rogell and Gehringer are one of the famous infield duos of all-time, up there with Fox and Aparicio and Trammell and Whitaker. Rogell was the defensive cornerstone. He was no slough at the plate either. The whole infield for the Tigers was quite the thing back in 1934, setting an MLB record for RsBI by and infield combination.

Ducky Medwick

Frankie Frisch