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Harry Heilmann won four batting crowns with averages of .403, .398, .394, and .393. During his peak from 1921-1927 he averaged 116 runs batted in, 41 doubles, 11 triples, and 104 runs. His slash line of .380/.452/.584 resulted in a 167 OPS+.

Only six American Leaguers have topped the .400 mark – Nap Lajoie, George Sisler, Ty Cobb, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Ted Williams, and Heilmann. In his 17-year big league career, Heilmann hit .342 with 2,660 hits, and 1,543 RBI.

Despite his many accomplishments, Heilmann is a Hall of Famer who’s largely forgotten today.

In the collection is this government postcard mailed form Detroit with a 1949 postmark.

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Though Harry Heilmann’s playing career ended in 1932, he remained close to the Tigers and baseball. Starting in 1934 he was the play-by-play man for Detroit for 17 years.

The previous image showed Heilmann’s signature on a government postcard. The image above reveals a postmark that gives the signature content.

It is dated April 26, 1949 from Detroit in Heilmann’s penultimate season as Tigers announcer. That day the Bengals squared off in a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox. In the first game Virgil Trucks got the win behind Vic Wertz’s 3-run homer in the 7th inning.

The Tigers tamed the White Sox in the second game to earn the sweep in Chicago. Pitcher Dizzy Trout earned a save in game one and the win in game two.

As was customary at the time, Heilmann as radio announcer did not travel with the team.

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In the old days of baseball the Most Valuable Player almost always came from the pennant-winning club. The thought at the time was that a player’s value was best measured by team performance.

A fine example of this is Roger Peckinpaugh’s selection as the 1925 AL MVP. The shortstop’s Senators finished 8 1/2 games over the second-place Philadelphia Athletics. Peckinpaugh played in 126 games and hit .294 with 124 hits and 64 runs batted in. His 160 total bases and .746 OPS are rather pedestrian, especially in the high-offense era.

Despite the middling performance as measured as by statistics, Peckinpaugh was voted the league’s MVP.

Today’s voters likely would’ve selected Harry Heilmann. Statistically, he was the league’s best player. The Tigers right fielder claimed the batting crown with a gaudy .393 average. He also topped the AL in runs batted in and WAR. Heilmann finished in the top 5 among AL hitters in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, hits, doubles, and total bases.

Heilman had a fine career. He received votes in MVP balloting in 7 straight seasons from 1922-1928. The period included four finishes in the top 5. Heilmann finished his career with a .342 average and a .410 on-base percentage. Eight seasons with triple-digit RBI totals pushed his career total to 1,540 runs batted in.

Hall of Fame voters recognized Heilmann’s greatness by inducting him into Cooperstown in 1952.

Shown here are Peckinpaugh’s thoughts of baseball’s best performers. He writes, “In my playing days, the greatest all around ball player was Ty Cobb. No one was close to Babe Ruth as a slugger and Walter Johnson was the best pitcher.” Peckinpaugh played 17 years in the American League, all with Ty Cobb as an opponent. Both Ruth and Johnson were teammates of Peckinpaugh.

Peckinpaugh adds his signature at the bottom.