Rookie Cards of Baseball Hall of Famers

[bcbgcbrcb]

Thanks, Dan.

Later today, I am going to add the W600 of Burkett next to the Just So. Although the original card was severely trimmed and then rebacked by a collector, the core of the original card still remains so I am going to keep it on my list.

Regrading the E107's and W600's, exactly as you said, I am only listing W600's as Rookie Cards over E107's if a definitive 1902 issue date for that player has been determined. Otherwise, I have gone with the E107.

According to Kevin Struss, who has done extensive research of the Rose Company postcards as well as the Novelty Cutlery postcards, some Roses were issued in 1908 as well as 1909 so those issue dates are believed to be correct.

On the Puerto Rican League stickers, since they are about the same size as standard cards and have player bios on the back, I have chosen to include them. Out of curiosity one time, I tried to peel the "sticker" from the backing and found it impossible to do without harming the piece. I know that an album was issued in 1972 and some were peeled and stuck in there, which probably worked when the glue was fresh.

[Leon]

Hey Phil
That is a great list you put out. You have done a nice job of giving justification to each decision too. That being said, if I were still a rookie card collector, and there were unique rookie cards of some players, I would still count them. It's sort of like saying you completed T206 .....but don't have Wags as he costs too much. If there is a at least "one" of a card, imo, it has to be counted. Now, you could do a caveat and accept the 2nd card, but it would have to have the dreaded asterisk imo..And lastly, I am quite sure there is no absolute definition of what a baseball card is so, if I were doing the list, I would be rather lenient on obscure card-like issues. Some photos can almost be both a card and a photo. Kind of like a photo-card. I have quite a few in my collection as type cards. Good thread!!

[bcbgcbrcb]

Thanks, Leon.

That's exactly what I am going to do later today. I am going to add second cards for those players with uniquely-known Rookie Card examples and clearly identify them as such, leaving it up to the collector's choice, but at least they know where they stand.

The photo-type cards are certainly a gray area and I will have to consider them on a case-by-case basis.

[benjulmag]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

Thanks, Leon.

The photo-type cards are certainly a gray area and I will have to consider them on a case-by-case basis.

There is a cabinet of Anson from 1874 that depicts him on the Philadelphia club, his second professional team. Unlike a lot of other studio cabinets, this one was from a team photo shoot, as the entire team is depicted in individual cabinets. I think that is a better choice for Anson's rookie card then the Buchner Gold Coin, which besides being issued late in his career, depicts an image more generic in nature than an actual depiction of Anson.

EDITED to add that while there is one known copy of the Anson card, some of the other cards from the "set" have more than one known copy. The Anson image is well known, being depicted on a popular composite woodcut of the 1874 Philadephia team.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Corey:

Thanks for the input on Anson. I made a conscious decision not to include photography studio cabinets or cdv's of individual players as they were most likely produced for the players themselves and not meant to be distributed or produced in any quantities nationally as cards would have been. There are many 19th Century players that fall into this category including Young, Keeler, Thompson, Wright, etc. and many of them also had other teammates produced at the same time like Anson.

Of course, each collector can decide to go with the earlier studio card or cdv and that might very well make for a more interesting collection (personally I am a big fan of going that route).

[Baseball Rarities]

Phil - Thanks for all of the effort. I really enjoyed looking over the list.

FYI, The W600 cabinet card of Mathewson was not made available by The Sporting Life until January 31, 1903.

The PC760 Rose Co. postcards were definitely released in the summer of 1908 as evidenced by this article that ran in the August 15, 1908 issue of the American Stationer and an example of a postcard with an August, 1908 postmark.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Thanks for the input, Kevin. I will go ahead and update the Mathewson listing.

[benjulmag]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

Corey:

Thanks for the input on Anson. I made a conscious decision not to include photography studio cabinets or cdv's of individual players as they were most likely produced for the players themselves and not meant to be distributed or produced in any quantities nationally as cards would have been. There are many 19th Century players that fall into this category including Young, Keeler, Thompson, Wright, etc. and many of them also had other teammates produced at the same time like Anson.

Of course, each collector can decide to go with the earlier studio card or cdv and that might very well make for a more interesting collection (personally I am a big fan of going that route).

Phil,

Thanks for the response and thanks too for the effort to compile such a list. I understand the rationale for your decision, and there is certainly something to be said for compiling a list based on a more public distribution, which gives collectors a more realistic shot of acquiring the cards.