Ty Cobb
Iconic vintage cards of Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and early aces Christy Mathewson and Cy Young highlight Rarities auction at Memory Lane
Hall of Fame pitchers Christy Mathewson and Cy Young likely would be miffed by the fragility and lack of endurance of today’s starting pitchers.
Starting pitchers rarely throw more than five or six innings in a game anymore, and only five threw more than 200 innings during the 2023 season. And today, star pitchers who throw too much—or too hard—wind up breaking down, often missing a year or more with Tommy John surgery.
The greatest pitchers of all time faced no such issues. Mathewson, who won 373 games during his 17-year career, threw more than 300 innings in a season 11 times, including 390.2 in a 37-win season in 1908.
Cy Young, whose name is on the game’s top pitching award, threw more than 300 innings in 16 of his 22 seasons. Young, who won a record 511 games, even pitched more than 400 innings five times.
Such unimaginable performances are why early-1900s aces like Mathewson and Young are considered the greatest pitchers of all time, and why their early 20th century trading cards are in high demand among vintage card collectors.
Rare cards of such baseball icons as Mathewson, Young, Ty Cobb, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and Babe Ruth highlight the Spring Rarities Auction at Memory Lane Inc.
The auction, which opens April 11 and runs through May 4, features nearly 2,000 lots of rare cards, legendary sets, and iconic pieces of baseball history.
Mathewson’s 1903-04 W600 Sporting Life Type 3 Mount card is the only example of its kind graded by PSA. With a VG 3 rating, the 5-by-7 ½-inch image of the star pitcher is one of his true rookie cards.
Other rare W600 cards include Young’s PSA 2-graded card, as well as rookie cards of fellow Hall of Fame hurlers Chief Bender (SGC 2) and Mordecai Brown (SGC 1.5).
A breakup of complete set of 1914 Cracker Jack cards—one of the top Pre-War sets in existence—is also featured, with 145 cards being offered, including iconic cards of Cobb (PSA 5), Jackson (SGC 4), Mathewson (SGC 3) and Honus Wagner (SGC 3).
Also featured is the No. 8-ranked T206 set on PSA’s Set Registry, which includes 521 cards, including the rare Sherry Magee (“Magie”) error card and more than 70 Hall of Famers.
Cards from another high-quality near complete set—1911 D304 General Baking—features a scarce Ty Cobb graded PSA 4. Another Cobb card graded PSA 5 highlights 72 lots from the iconic 1911 Turkey Red set.
The auction includes stacks of 1920s Babe Ruth cards as well as an abundance of other rare early-1900 cards featuring Cobb, Wagner and other iconic stars.
Other highlights include:
• A 1912 E300 Plow Boy Candy Ty Cobb (PSA 4).
• 1908 A.L. Publishing Co. Honus Wagner postcard (PSA 2).
• 1910 E104-2 Nadja Wagner boasting his classic T206 Carl Horner image (PSA 2).
• T206 Cobb Red Portrait (PSA 7).
• 1916 M101-4 Herpolsheimer’s Joe Jackson graded PSA 6, the highest graded example.
• T204 Ramly cards of Walter Johnson (PSA 5) and Eddie Plank (SGC 5).
• 1917 Rogers Hornsby Collins McCarthy rookie card (SGC 2).
Also featured are numerous iconic Post-War cards, including PSA 8 copies of the 1953 Topps Mickey Mantle and Jackie Robinson cards, and high-grade rookie cards of Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax, Pete Maravich, Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Julius Erving and Terry Bradshaw, among many others, and a collection of high-grade Roberto Clemente cards, including 16 PSA 9s and four PSA 10s.
The auction also includes such rare, graded, unopened vintage baseball packs as 1953 and 1954 Topps (both graded PSA 5), 1955 Bowman Baseball, a 1976 Topps Football cello box, and a 1979-80 Topps Hockey box.
Highlighting the top memorabilia items is a 1934 Tour of Japan autographed baseball featuring autographs from Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx and other American luminaries from the famous trip.
Ruth is also featured among a collection of historic photos—a George Grantham Bain image from 1920, when Ruth was still a relative newcomer to the New York Yankees. Also featured is an obscure 1964 illustration of Mickey Mantle blasting his record 16th World Series home run.
The 21st century Babe Ruth—Shohei Ohtani—is also featured, including the only graded ticket stub from his March 29, 2013 professional debut with the Nippon Ham Fighters.
