1920s rookie card questions

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Posted By: Brian McQueen

Had a question for the board concerning a players true rookie card from sets from the 1920s. If a player has a card from 1921, such as Jess Haines with his Exhibit card and Ross Youngs with his 1921 Koesters, those, I'm assuming, are the definative rookie cards for those players and cards from 1922 (ie...e121, e120, w573, etc...) simply count as the second year. However, what about players such as Pennock and Sewell who have e220 cards? These cards were produced in 1921-1923 so would they count as the definitive rookies? Or would the cards of those players from 1922 also be considered rookie cards? Is there a way to determine the year on e220s?

Also, for players such as Pie Traynor, who has both an e120 and a w573, would both of these and any other card of his from 1922 be considered his rookie (so theoretically, he could have 4-5 different cards counting as his RC)? Or has some attempt been made to determine which set came out first in 1922 so that only the specific card from that set would be considered an RC?

Hope that's not too confusing although I see cards of some of these players passed off as rookies (ie...an e120 Sewell) that perhaps shouldn't be and was hoping for some clarification. Thoughts anyone?