Almost certainly a mistake
Does it list a card number? There is no known Kauff with N.Y. A.L. designation.
It would be interesting to know if the card number matches m101-4 (#94) or m101-5 (#92).
There is virtually no way the card could exist with N.Y. A.L. back if it were m101-4. M101-5 came first, and Kauff is listed with the Giants. M101-4 also shows him with the Giants. Mendelsohn did make some corrections from one set to the other, but there would be no reason to change from Kauff correct to Kauff error and then back to Kauff correct again.
In theory the card could exist in m101-5, but that would be highly unlikely. Kauff did play with the Highlanders a handful of games in 1912 before venturing off to the Fed Lg., and conceivably Mendelsohn could have assigned him to his last known MLB team. Still, his signing with the Giants came with a lot of fanfare in December 1915, as he was the defending two-time batting champ of the Feds. He also had signed with NYG before the 1915 season but the contract was void because he was already under contract. Under the circumstance, it seems pretty certain Mendelsohn would not have assigned him to the NY AL in an early release of m101-5 which he then corrected, and no examples are known to exist. So most likely this was a mistake in the listing.
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If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other. - Ulysses S. Grant, military commander, 18th US President.
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