To paraphrase Blazing Saddles, "Is Mungo only pawn in game of life?"Van Lingle Mungo, a name so suited to a novelty record that someone couldn't help themselves, was also a quality Brooklyn pitcher for several years in the 30s and 40s. This card captures his joie de vivre for the game as well as some school-perfect penmanship.
Born and buried in Pageland, SC, Van Lingle continued to sign through his retired life and up to his death at 73. What to make of this card, though, being blank-backed and devoid of all but Mr. Mungo and some Ebbets Field stands? Another autographed copy of the card graces his Wikipedia entry and comes with a note about receiving it from the man himself. It's possible they're a post-retirement "business card" or from one of the 1970s TCMA sets, but the latter usually include some kind of ID on the back. (If you know the set for sure, drop a line!)
A recent listen to the song "Van Lingle Mungo" stirred memories of "Talkin' Baseball" and other novelty baseball tunes. It surprised and amused me that you can buy the song on Amazon now for five Pepsi points. Wonder how many of those points go to the composer? If we all jump on the bandwagon, would he have enough for the infamous Pepsi Harrier?
