1933 Goudey #81 Sam Jones
About Sam Jones
Card #81 depicts Samuel Pond "Sad Sam" Jones, a right-handed pitcher then in his fourth season with the Chicago White Sox. Born July 26, 1892, in Woodsfield, Ohio, Jones broke into pro ball in 1913 and was signed by Cleveland Indians scout Bill Reedy in 1914, launching a 22-year major-league career (1914-1935) that also ran through the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators, and White Sox — a run of 22 consecutive American League seasons he shares with Herb Pennock, Red Ruffing, Steve Carlton, and Early Wynn. He won two World Series titles, with the 1918 Red Sox and the 1923 Yankees, going 2-1 in that 1923 Series against the Giants; 1918 was his best season by percentage, an AL-leading .762 mark (16-5, 2.25 ERA), while 1921 brought career highs of 23 wins and 298.2 innings. On September 4, 1923, he no-hit Philadelphia at Shibe Park, 2-0, remarkably without recording a single strikeout. His "Sad Sam" tag, per contemporary wire reports, came from a sportswriter who mistook his naturally dour, deadpan expression for melancholy, missing the twinkle behind it. By the 1933 campaign shown on this card, a 40-year-old Jones was pitching out his final effective years for a sixth-place White Sox club, going 10-12 with a 3.36 ERA over 27 starts; he closed his career in 1935, at 42, as baseball's oldest active player, finishing 229-217 with a 3.84 ERA and 1,223 strikeouts.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · SABR
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 354 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 24 | 33 | 57 | 224 | 2 |
| SGC | 118 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 22 | 77 | 2 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-07-03. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted.
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Related cards
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- #6a Jimmy Dykes
- #6b Jimmy Dykes
- #7 Ted Lyons
- #33 Red Kress
- #35 Al Simmons
- #43 Lew Fonseca
- #65 Milton Gaston
- #79 Red Faber
- #184 Charley Berry
- #195 Evar Swanson
- #219 Mule Haas
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1933 Goudey Sam Jones card?
It is card #81 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 Sam Jones with the Chicago White Sox.
Is the 1933 Goudey Sam Jones #81 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 2026-10-05.