16-month hanging calendar of frame-ready classic collectible baseball cards with color commentary
Revisit the history of America’s pastime each month with the Asgard Press 2025 Vintage Baseball Cards Calendar, a collection of faithfully reproduced old-time baseball trading cards from the early 1900’s.
Lou Criger
b: February 3, 1872, Elkhart, Indiana
d: May 4, 1934, Tucson, Arizona
While Lou Criger’s career batting statistics are not impressive — .221 average, 11 home runs, and 342 RBIs — what kept him in the major leagues for 17 years was his extraordinary defensive prowess. In addition, the close relationship he established with the great Cy Young early in his career proved to be very beneficial. From 1896 to 1908, wherever Cy Young went, Lou Criger was soon to follow. He was behind the plate for most of Young’s 283 victories during this span, including his perfect game on May 5, 1904, and his no-hitter on June 30, 1908. At 5’11”, 165 pounds, Criger’s build was so slight that he hardly fit the description of a typical major league backstop, but Cy Young once named him as the best catcher that ever stood behind the plate. This view was shared by many of his contemporaries who also regarded Criger as the best defensive catcher of the Deadball Era. The Indiana native began his career with the Cleveland Spiders in 1896 where he first teamed with Cy Young. He began the 1897 season as a third-string catcher, but turned heads when he got a chance to show off his potent throwing arm, once gunning down six potential Louisville base stealers in a single game. Young and Criger joined the Boston franchise in the newly formed American League for the 1901 season. He was behind the plate for all eight games of the first modern World Series in 1903, won by the Boston Americans over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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