Willie Mays
Rare, high-grade Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson cards highlight Memory Lane Premier auction
Through the first three decades of the 20th century, there were few baseball players who dominated the game quite like Ty Cobb and Walter Johnson.
Cobb, the “Georgia Peach,” was the best hitter in the game, winning 12 batting titles and retiring with the highest career batting average (.366) in the history of the game.
Walter “Big Train” Johnson, meanwhile, was the best pitcher of his era, leading baseball in numerous pitching categories. The two-time MVP (1913, 1924) led the league in wins and complete games six times, and in strikeouts an astounding 12 times.
Fittingly, they were both part of the inaugural class of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.
It’s not often that century-old, highly-graded trading cards of the two first-year Hall of Famers come up for bid in the same auction.
But coveted cards of both Cobb and Johnson highlight the Winter Rarities Premier Auction at Memory Lane Inc. The auction, which features 120 Premier Lots, runs through Feb. 3.
Lot #1 features a Cobb T206 Green Portrait card with a Piedmont back. Graded PSA NM 7, the card is the rarest of the four Cobb T206 issues, with PSA 7 examples recently approaching six figures.
Johnson’s 1909 T204 Ramly card, graded PSA 8, sits atop the PSA Pop Report as the highest graded example of the card and one of the highest graded of any Ramly card, with only one graded higher.
The auction features numerous baseball legends and Hall of Famers, including Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. The top Mantle card is a 1952 Bowman graded PSA 9. A similar PSA 9 example has sold for more than $500,000.
The top Mays card is his iconic 1952 Topps card graded PSA 8, with less than a dozen copies graded higher.
The auction features several cards of the two mid-century legends, including seven Mantle cards graded NM-MT 8 or higher and 15 Mays cards, including 11 PSA 9s and three GEM MINT 10s.
The auction also features cards of numerous other Hall of Famers, including: a 1952 Topps Jackie Robinson card (PSA 8); nine Hank Aaron cards, five with the highest grade; and 16 Roberto Clemente cards, 14 graded PSA 9 and two GEM MINT 10s.
Other highlights include:
• 1958 Topps #1 Ted Williams (PSA 9 MINT).
• 1909-11 T206 Addie Joss Portrait Sweet Caporal 150/30 (PSA 9 MINT), the highest grade of all ad backs.
• 1909-11 T206 Nap Lajoie Throwing Piedmont 150/25 (PSA 9 MINT, POP 1), highest graded example.
• 1948 Bowman #4 Johnny Mize Rookie (PSA 10, POP 2).
• 1952 Bowman Large #16 Frank Gifford Rookie (PSA 9), only one graded higher.
• 1955 Topps #47 Hank Aaron (PSA 9), highest graded example.
• 1957 Topps #10 Willie Mays (PSA 9), highest PSA example.
• 1957 Topps #138 Johnny Unitas Rookie (PSA 8).
• 1957 Topps #77 Bill Russell Rookie (PSA 7).
• 1961 Fleer #8 Wilt Chamberlain Rookie (PSA 8).
• 1965 Topps #122 Joe Namath Rookie (PSA 8).
• 1969 Topps #25 Lew Alcindor Rookie (PSA 8).
• 1986 Fleer #57 Michael Jordan (PSA 8).
