Seven Always Has Been Better Than One

How about this for an amazing find?

A family from South Carolina had gone out to California to help clean up the home of a recently deceased great-grandfather and in a crumpled up brown paper bag they found seven T206 Ty Cobb cards, all with Ty Cobb backs no less. They finished the work they were doing in the home and returned to South Carolina where they contacted a local dealer to find out if the cards were worth anything.

After being urged by the dealer to get them authenticated and graded the cards were sent to PSA where all seven of the cards graded from PSA 2.5-4.5 (One is 1.5 Poor, Four are 2.5 Good, one is 3.5 VG and one is 4.5 VG-EX). PSA is calling them “The Lucky 7 Find”.

Previously there were 15 known copies of the T206 Ty Cobb with Ty Cobb back so this find is unbelievable when you consider the rarity. I would keep the best 2.5, run a contest for the 1.5 (Talk about an insane contest) and sell the rest.

 

Honus Goes Big Time

 

Tomorrow the 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner card, known as The Chesapeake Wagner, a PSA 1(MK) is going up for auction through SCP Auctions with a starting bid of $50,000

 

This card is the Holy Grail of sports card collecting and besides seeing a picture most of us will never touch one let alone see one. In the past decade the cheapest one had a $109,638 price tag for a PSA 1 with the last two selling for $2.1 million (unknown grade) and $1.2 million (VG 3) so I wouldn’t be surprised to see this one top $150k if not $200k.

 

This is one of the few cards that if I had the disposable cash I would actually bid.

 

The history of this card would make for an intriguing soap opera. When the American Tobacco Company decided to include cards in cigarette and tobacco packs in 1909 they required the authorization of each player to include them in the packs. Wagner refused to sign so in response the ATC sent a sports writer (John Gruber) to try and convince him to sign the paperwork but he wrote on the paper that he did not want his picture in a package of cigarettes.

 

This is where the most popular story about Wagner not wanting kids purchasing tobacco products to collect his card came from, this was later validated by his granddaughter. The problem to this “happy” story is that Wagner chewed tobacco almost religiously and on top of that he had cards included in tobacco products as far back as 1899 not to mention he had appeared in advertisements for cigars and cigarettes for a decade at this point.

 

The more believable story is based on him being a shrewd businessman at heart. He was known as a tough negotiator, even retiring after the 1909 season because the Pirate refused to offer the money he felt he deserved, they eventually gave in and he un-retired. It is more reasonable to believe that he refused to sign the contract because ATC refused to pay him a fair compensation.

 

So when he refused to authorize his use in the set the company cut him from the product but it is believed that as many as 200 copies were printed and already inserted in to cigarette packs. There are roughly 55 copies that have been graded between Beckett and PSA and another 8-10 raw copies floating around.

Vintage Card Of The Month: 1909-11 T206 Stoney McGlynn

This month’s VCoM gives us a pretty cool nickname, Stoney McGlynn. He played 11 seasons total, 8 years in the minor leagues and 3 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. What is interesting about McGlynn is that he was 32 years old when he started to play professional baseball with the York Penn Parks in 1904. If his career was based on his minor league stats he would be considered a #1 starter, he only had two losing seasons (16-21 in 1910 and 4-5 in 1913) and went 177-109 in his 8 minor league seasons. His 3 seasons with St. Louis were significantly uglier going 17-33 with a 2.95 ERA. In 1907 he was just horrendous going 14-25, he was first in losses (25), first in earned runs (114), first in hits given up (329), first on walks (112), second in homeruns given up (6) and third in wild pitches (11).

 

This card is as ugly as McGlynn’s career with the Cardinals, creases, chips and tears mar this card. The back, a Sweet Caporal, is even worse. The back is cut off-center and heavily stained. But as I have said before, it is these imperfections that make the card loveable.

Vintage Card Of The Month: 1909-11 T206 Frank King

This month’s VCoM comes from the T206 series. Most cards from the T206 release can be difficult to date because the set was inserted in to tobacco packs between 1909 and 1911, the King card though came from the initial 1909 release. Frank King only played for the Danville Red Sox during the 1909 season.

 

King was an outfielder that played 7 seasons, all in the minor leagues for 4 different teams. Saying he was a professional baseball player was being polite, his best season was in 1905 with the Savannah Pathfinders where he played 88 games and had .270 BA and 86 hits. He ended his career with a .222 BA and 487 hits.

 

The good thing about the card is that it is in decent shape, the corners are rounded and the front surface is chipped but the color is still bright. Additionally, it is my only Old Mill back. The back is stained and cut off-center just as I like my Tobacco era cards.

Vintage Card Of The Month: 1909-11 T206 Davy Jones

This month’s VCoM is from the T206 series, released in packs of tobacco between 1909 and 1911. Davy Jones played 15 season for 6 teams; Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Rebels (Federal League) and then one game back with the Tigers in 1918.  He had a relatively average career, hitting .270 with 1,020 hits. He made it to the World Series with the Tigers in 1907, 1908 and 1909 but they lost in each attempt.

He was involved in two notable plays that put his name in the record books as well as a place in the MLB Hall of Fame. In 1908 while playing in Detroit, he was on Third Base when Germany Schaefer became the first (and only) man to ever steal First Base. His second play happened in 1918 during the final game of the shortened season (due to the Great War). Jones attended the game as a spectator but the Tigers manager Hughie Jennings, a friend of Jones, asked him if he would like to play so Jones tossed on a uniform and jumped in to the outfield where he caught the final out of the game. The ball was sent to the Hall of Fame where it was stored with other “Final out of the season” balls.

The card is in rough shape, the corners are all curled and a couple of creases across the front. It has a Piedmont back, which is stained and aged but still complete.

Vintage Card Of The Month: T206 Mike "Doc" Powers

With the baseball season ending in a Red Sox World Series title I figured I might as well post up one last baseball Vintage Card of the Month.

 

This month’s card is from the 1909-11 T206 release. Mike Powers, also known as Doc Powers because he was a licensed doctor, was a catcher who played for four different teams between 1898 and 1909 and had a rather mundane career. He will go down in MLB history though not for his play, in a turn of bad luck he was the first player to die due to results from an in-game injury.

 

On April 12, 1909 the Philadelphia A's were playing the Boston Red Sox in Philadelphia,  Powers was playing catcher for the A's and ended up crashing in to a wall while reaching for a foul ball. By the 7^th inning he was in intense pain but continued playing, he was brought to the hospital when he collapsed after the game. The next day he had surgery to repair his injured intestines, by April 25^th he had two more surgeries and doctors were at a loss. He died on April 26, 1909 due to post-surgery infections.

 

The card itself is in bad shape, it shows its age. The edges are dinged and rough, the corners are all rounded and there are creases running from side to side and the card is cut off-center. The Sweet Caporal back is in surprisingly decent shape.

Vintage Card Of The Month: T206 Red Ames

 The Vintage Card of the Month this month is a T206 Red Ames. The T206 are pretty popular for a number of reasons including being a multi-year set (1909-1911) and the set included some of the hottest stars of the era like Christy Mathewson, Cy Young and Ty Cobb.

 

Red Ames actually had a significant career, not Hall of Fame significant but solid numbers that he could be proud of when he retired. He played 17 seasons, most with the New York Giants during the John McGraw years (11 seasons) but he also spent a couple of seasons with the St Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies. His 183-167 lifetime record is not the best but his lifetime 2.63 ERA ties him with CY Young.

 

During his career with the Giants the team won the NL Pennant 5 times, winning the World Series twice. It should be noted that even though the Giants won the 1903 Pennant but McGraw refused to play in the World Series because he felt the American League was a minor league and he did not want to lower himself to their level so the Pirates took the Giants place against Boston. He also led the league in Strikeouts per 9 IP three times, Saves twice and Home Runs per 9 IP once (0 Home runs given up in 1911). On the down side he led the league in Wild Pitches twice and Losses once.

 

The card itself is in decent condition, probably worth a mid-range grade. There is a crease on the front bottom left corner and it is cut off center. The back is a Sweet Caporal, is centered nicely and bright colors.

Vintage Card of the Month: Jack Pfiester

Jack “The Giant Killer” Pfiester was a decent pitcher who played from 1902 until 1911 though he did come back for one more season with Sioux City Indians in 1916 at the age of 38. Over the length of his career he played for the Spokane Smoke Eaters, San Francisco Pirates, Pittsburgh Pirates, Omaha Rourkes, Chicago Cubs, Louisville Colonels and Sioux City Indians. His lifetime record is 71-44 with a 2.02 ERA, add in his Minor League stats and he went 159-113 with a 2.44 ERA.

This 1909-11 T-206 card shows Pfiester in the “Throwing Pose”, another card in the set shows him in the “Sitting Pose” with an orange background and holding a bat. This card is actually a perfect representation of Pfiester, you notice the rough edges but then you take a closer look and you see a decent card with a nice surface… as long as you don’t get distracted by the giant tear in the corner. I picked up this card years ago, I have always been drawn to this set and will pick up the occasional card from time to time, most unknowns will run a couple of dollars with lesser stars $50 or less depending on the back.

 A couple interesting facts about The Giant Killer,

He pitched a complete game (1-1 tie) with a dislocated tendon in his pitching arm against the Giants in September 1908. The tendon was repaired by a doctor whose nickname was “Bonesetter” Reese.

His lifetime 2.02 ERA ranks him #4 on the All-Time ERA Leaders list ahead of Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson and Mariano Rivera.


He went to the World Series 5 times (1x Pirates and 4x Cubs) winning twice with the Cubs in 1907 and 1908 though he only pitched in 5 total World Series games going 1-3 with a 3.97 ERA.

 I came across this picture while he was with the Omaha Rourkes in 1905; Pfiester is in the bottom right corner giving the camera man the stink eye.

Vintage Card Of The Month

I decided to start off the New Year with something old. I love history which has led me to being a vintage collector. Over that time I have picked up a number of cards from various sets like T206 and Topps All-American. Most of the players are commons but to me each card has a history and that is what interests me. 

The first card I will post is my favorite from my T206 collection, Eddie Cicotte. The card is graded by ASA, a company known for coin grading, as a 6-NM. The card is centered nicely. The back is Piedmont and besides “SPECIAL” stamped on the back it is as nice as the front. Cicotte was playing for Boston at the time of the card but he is best known for his time with the Chicago White Sox (1912-1920) because of the “Black Sox” scandal when Chicago players threw the 1919 World Series.

Most people know of him because of the scandal but they do not realize that he was an exceptional pitcher at times and may have possibly made it to the HOF had he remained in peak performance. His best years were clearly his time with the White Sox in 1917 and 1919.

In 1917 he went 28-12(1st), 1.53 ERA (1st) and 150 SO (2nd) he threw a no-hitter and won the World Series he even earned 4 Saves too. In 1919 he went 29-7(1st), 1.82 ERA(2nd) and 110 SO (7th) including 30 Complete Games plus 1 Save and he made it to the World Series but lost after going 1-2 in his 3 Series games. To add to his list of accomplishments he won the 1914 AL MVP Award. His lifetime ERA is 2.82 putting him at 24th overall on the Top 100 ERA list.

Because of his lifetime ban he is not eligible to appear in any licensed sets but Tri-Star remedied that this past year when his card was included in the 2010 Obak set with a base card and a cut-signature in the autograph checklist.