(LOT 171)
1907 Ty Cobb Dietsche Rookie Postcard – Scarce Fielding Pose PSA 2 GOOD
RARE GEORGIA PEACH ROOKIE!!! As one of baseball's all-time greats, the most sought-after card is typically associated with their inaugural MLB season, dubbed their rookie card. Unfortunately, in Ty Cobb's case, this is where it gets slightly sketchy since his first stand-alone appearance on a professional baseball card was not until 1907, a year that saw a number of issues distributed with his respected image. Cobb broke into the Major Leagues with the Detroit Tigers in 1905, playing in a mere 41 games while hitting a paltry .240. Quickly, Cobb bounced back in 1906 to bat an impressive .316; the first of an unfathomable 23 consecutive years of exceeding the exalted .300 benchmark. Throughout his 24 seasons, he led the American League with a record 12 years in batting average, including an incredible nine consecutive years from 1907 through 1915!

After his sterling 1906 season, he stroked 212 hits to the tune of a .350 batting average, claiming his inaugural batting title. Due to his newly found star status, manufacturers began utilizing his image on various cardboard products throughout the 1907 season, mainly postcards and the extremely rare W600 Sporting Life Cabinet. The postcards include A.C. Dietsche, Wolverine News, H.M. Taylor, and Seamless Steel Tubes, with all of these issues staking a claim as Cobb's hallowed rookie card. The 1907 A.C. Dietsche issue just happened to include two different subjects of the immortal Georgia Peach, majestic fielding and batting images of the mighty Cobb. As vintage collectors are well aware of, the Fielding subject is much scarcer than the Batting pose, with the combined PSA and SGC population reports justifying that notion.

Of the 154 documented 1907 Fielding or Batting graded PSA and SGC copies (at the time this was written), only 22 or 14% represent the obscure 1907 Cobb Dietsche Fielding pose, with this superb PSA 2 heirloom revealing stellar eye-appeal for the assessment. While any of the 1907 Ty Cobb postcards reside as one of his true rookie cards, it is the A.C. Dietsche Fielding specimen that suffices as one of the most scant and valuable issues. Seldom surfacing for the taking, over the past several years, a number of eye-pleasing GOOD and VG examples have realized price tags in the $25-$40K range, with no end in sight for their unlimited investment potential. Cobb's exalted central image depicts the fiery superstar reaching out, glove in hand, for a batted ball, with the sepia-toned illustration reflecting spectacular contrast and crystal-clear clarity.

The dark-hued background reveals no obtrusive creases, also eluding virtually all of the surface snow typically plaguing a majority of the 1907 Dietsche Cobb's. Some surface chipping is evident along the upper and right edges as well as the upper corners, with all four corners revealing even wear consistent with the grade. Included on the verso is a brief Cobb bio and bold "A.C. DIETSCHE, Detroit, Mich., 1907" copyright text along the verso's left edge, validating its irrefutable 1907 distribution year. Interestingly enough, the last sentence in the Cobb bio prophetically states: "He is almost sure of leading the American League in batting for the season of 1907", for not only would Cobb move on to win the 1907 Junior Circuit batting title, but miraculously claim an unprecedented nine consecutive titles, placing his indelible mark on our National Pastime!

MIN BID $5,000
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