A CURATED SELECTION OF GREAT CARDS
36. 1887 N172 Old Judge Cigarettes #355-3 Hank O’Day (HOF) – SGC FR 1.5
38. 1887 N172 Old Judge Cigarettes #456-3 Sam Thompson (HOF) – PSA VG 3
Big Sam Thompson was one of the game’s first great sluggers, with a whopping (for the time) 126 career home runs. His 166 RBI in 1887 was a record that stood until it was broken by Babe Ruth in 1921, and at the time of his retirement he was second on the career home runs list. Additionally, Thompson was part of the only all-.400 hitting outfield of all time, alongside Tuck Turner (.416), Ed Delahanty (.407) and Billy Hamilton (.404). The card pictures Thompson with De- troit, dating it to 1887-88. This is a spectacular example, graded VG 3
Special card of Hall of Famer Hank O’Day, one of the few gentleman to play, manage, and umpire in the major leagues. O’Day called the first World Series in 1903, one of many postseason tilts in that phase of his decades-long professional career as officiator. He also served as key figure in formative baseball moments like the second base force-out of young Fred Merkle (his famous “boner”) that led to an 1908 replay game and sunk that team’s season.
by PSA due to light corner wear but boasting a startlingly clear im- age, with outstanding clarity and contrast. For advanced collectors of 19th Century photographic cards, image quality always trumps the technical grade, and this example is as good as it gets.
This Old Judge phase of O’Day’s career saw him compile a 73- 110 pitching record from 1884-90. He played with the legendary 1889 New York Giants of Buck Ewing, Jim O’Rourke, John Montgomery Ward, Roger Connor, Tim Keefe, and Mickey Welch, one of 19th Century’s peak teams, and eventually joined its stars in Cooperstown. The SGC FR 1.5 grade shows corner and edge wear often seen on Old Judge cards, with modest image contrast and marks on its reverse. O’Day himself remains recognizable, with that distinctive uniform, strong pose, and otherwise clean front. A key Hall of Famer and one of its few members selected for their umpiring services!
MINIMUM BID: $2,500
39. 1887 N172 Old Judge Cigarettes #478-3 John Ward (HOF) – PSA VG 3(MK)
John Ward’s popularity and influence on the game, coupled with the fact that there are nine poses of him featured in the N172 issue, make him one of the set’s more widely-collected Hall of Famers. Despite that, this particular pose is seen less frequently. This 1888 example, issued just before his establishment of the Players’ League, is sharp and clean, boasts a strong image with excellent contrast, along with square corners and strong centering. The numerical grade is a result of a small spot on
MINIMUM BID: $1,000
37. 1887 N172 Old Judge Cigarettes #478-7 John Ward (HOF) – PSA GOOD 2
The first example of this pose of Hall of Famer John Montgomery Ward that we have offered, it is seen less frequently than some of the other eight poses issued during the four-year run of the Old Judge card brand. With a PSA grade of GOOD 2, this example does show some light fading of the image and grade-appropriate corner wear. The grade is also affected by some soiling on the back. Nevertheless, a valuable card of a significant 19th-century Hall of Famer. MINIMUM BID: $1,000
the image at the top right border, along with some foxing on the reverse – neither issue being particularly distracting, as the card is a stunner.
MINIMUM BID: $2,500
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