1933 Goudey #220 Lefty Grove
No team banner: this card comes from Goudey's late-1933 press sheets 8-10, which dropped the team-name banner from the front design.
About Lefty Grove
Born Robert Moses Grove in 1900 in Lonaconing, Maryland, "Lefty" Grove adopted the nickname as a teenager for the obvious reason: he threw with searing velocity from the left side. Martinsburg of the Class D Blue Ridge League sold him to Jack Dunn's Baltimore Orioles of the International League for roughly $3,500 -- a deal Grove joked made him "the only player ever traded for a fence." He dominated the minors for five years (108-36) before Connie Mack paid a then-record $100,600 to bring him to the Philadelphia Athletics in 1925. Over nine seasons with the A's (1925-1933) and eight more with the Boston Red Sox (1934-1941), Grove went 300-141, a .680 winning percentage that remains the highest among 300-game winners. He led the American League in strikeouts his first seven seasons and won nine ERA titles, an unmatched total, capturing the pitching Triple Crown in both 1930 and 1931. His MVP season came in 1931: a 31-4 record and 2.06 ERA. He anchored Philadelphia's pennant-winning clubs in three straight World Series (1929-1931), going 4-2 with a 1.75 ERA. Grove was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1947 on his first ballot.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · SABR
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 531 | 0 | 5 | 19 | 21 | 42 | 77 | 343 | 24 |
| SGC | 400 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 7 | 38 | 302 | 37 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-07-03. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8). PSA counts are straight-graded.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1933 Goudey Lefty Grove card?
It is card #220 of the 1933 Goudey (R319) Baseball set - the 240-card, 2-3/8 by 2-7/8 inch color-art set issued in 1933 with Big League Chewing Gum. It pictures Lefty Grove with the Philadelphia Athletics.
Why does this card have no team banner?
It comes from Goudey's late-1933 press sheets 8-10, which dropped the team-name banner from the front design - 72 cards in the set share the bannerless look.
Is the 1933 Goudey Lefty Grove #220 a rookie card?
By modern catalog convention, yes. 1933 Goudey is treated as the hobby's first major nationally distributed gum set, so nearly every card in it carries the rookie-card (RC) designation - a modern label applied retroactively, since many of these players had earlier tobacco, caramel, or strip cards.
How many cards are in the 1933 Goudey set?
240 numbered cards, though collectors usually count 241 collectible cards because #6 Jimmy Dykes exists in an error and a corrected version. Only 239 numbers were in 1933 packs - #106 (Nap Lajoie) was printed in 1934 and issued by mail.
Sources: Trading Card Database, Baseball-Reference, PSA & SGC population reports, and hobby press-sheet research. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-07-04.