1933 Goudey #232 Lefty O'Doul
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. Sheet 10 was the "World Series" sheet — split evenly between the pennant-winning Senators and Giants and released after the Series ended on October 7, 1933.
About Lefty O'Doul
Francis Joseph "Lefty" O'Doul, born March 4, 1897, in San Francisco, broke into pro ball as a left-handed pitcher signed by his hometown San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League in 1916. The New York Yankees drafted him in 1918, and he pitched sparingly for New York (1919-20, 1922) and the Boston Red Sox (1923), picking up his only big-league win before chronic arm trouble ended his pitching career. Remade as an outfielder in the high minors, O'Doul hit .392 for Salt Lake City and .378 for the Seals, winning the first PCL MVP award, before returning to the majors at 31 with the Giants in 1928. He blossomed into one of the era's great hitters, winning National League batting titles with the Phillies in 1929 (.398, then the highest average of the modern era short of .400) and with Brooklyn in 1932 (.368). He is the card featured here as a Brooklyn player; O'Doul opened 1933 with the Dodgers before being traded back to the Giants that season. Over 11 major-league seasons he batted .349 - still among the highest career averages in history - with 1,140 hits, 113 home runs and 542 RBI. Known as "The Man in the Green Suit" for his favorite outfit, O'Doul later managed his original San Francisco Seals for 17 years, won multiple PCL pennants, and became baseball's goodwill ambassador to Japan, helping organize prewar exhibition tours and the postwar Japanese professional leagues; he is credited with naming the Yomiuri Giants. In 2002 he was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, only the second American so honored.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · SABR
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 401 | 0 | 3 | 27 | 35 | 46 | 68 | 218 | 4 |
| SGC | 227 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 32 | 155 | 18 |
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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Related cards
More Lefty O'Doul in this set: #58
More New York Giants cards:
- #3 Hughie Critz
- #20 Bill Terry
- #41 Gus Mancuso
- #52 Andy Cohen
- #84 Glenn Spencer
- #102 Travis Jackson
- #125 Bill Terry
- #126 Jo-Jo Moore
- #127 Mel Ott
- #129 Hal Schumacher
- #130 Freddie Fitzsimmons
- #142 Paul Richards
- #207 Mel Ott
- #208 Bernie James
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1933 Goudey Lefty O'Doul card?
It is card #232 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 O'Doul with the New York Giants.
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. This card is from sheet 10, the World Series sheet, split evenly between the pennant-winning Senators and Giants and released after the Series ended on October 7, 1933.
Is the 1933 Goudey Lefty O'Doul #232 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.