(LOT 52)
1941 Play Ball #71 Joe DiMaggio PSA 8 NM-MT
"Joltin Joe" DiMaggio, we want you on our side!" These immortal song lyrics/music were written by Alan Courtney & Ben Homer and brought to life by the renowned Les Brown Orchestra, written and performed during the legendary 1941 season when "Joe D" turned the baseball world upside down via his record-setting 56-game hitting streak. A super hero with icon status, Joe DiMaggio's aforementioned 56-game hitting streak in 1941 continues to be one of our National Pastime's most unbreakable records. Coincidently, the breathtaking Joe DiMaggio 1941 Play Ball card presented here was also issued during that momentous 1941 campaign, likewise depicting Hall of Fame qualities worthy of a place in Cooperstown, New York. Graded a spectacular PSA NM/MT 8, one look at this cardboard masterpiece makes you ponder the qualities required to achieve a Mint 9 grade. To date, of the nearly 850 PSA encapsulated examples, only a meager 6 specimens have managed to achieve a higher assessment, with a mere twenty-eight or 3% residing at this hallowed NM/MT 8 plateau!

The classic DiMaggio batting swing image is virtually un-improvable, and set against a deep violet and two-tone green hued background as "Joltin Joe" completes his mighty swing via an image made famous by the illustrious photographer George Burke. Most significantly, this hallowed illustration atypically reveals near-perfect centering between four blinding white borders, with the razor-sharp perimeter including four pin-point corner tips. The sparkling obverse side surface is nearly blemish free, and this "blazer of a card" certainly appears as if it has just been pulled from a 1941 Play Ball Gum Co. wax pack. The final piece for this museum worthy puzzle is an immaculate-like verso that exhibits fine print registration affixed to a super clean off-white background. Bottom line is this miraculous offering resides as one of the pinnacle Joe DiMaggio 1941 Play Ball cards extant, and while the current grade is sufficient for even the most meticulous enthusiasts, its awe-inspiring aesthetics are clearly consistent with virtually any "Mint 9" example.

To reiterate, we cannot over emphasize the significance of DiMaggio's solidified place not only in baseball history, but as the true embodiment of a National hero. The 1941 campaign is a year that will forever be embedded in the hearts and minds of avid baseball fans for it was this season that DiMaggio remarkably recorded at least a single safety in 56 consecutive games as well as Ted Williams achieving a .406 batting average. "Joltin Joe" and "The Kid" were the talk of the nation, and this PSA 8 DiMaggio '41 Play Ball offering portraying the Yankee icon in a classic full body swinging pose is the perfect testament for that record breaking season. Its highly revered stature was truly substantiated when a PSA Gem Mint 10 specimen sold for a staggering $750,000 price tag in the winter of 2020, corroborating the notion that now is the time to "step up to the plate" and capture one of the Yankee Clipper's best preserved cardboard masterpieces before its spiraling worth reaches an unattainable level!

MIN BID $7,500
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