(LOT 18)
Magnificent 1909 Walter Johnson Ramly (PSA NM/MT 8) - "1 of 2" Highest Graded Examples!
Walter Johnson's arguable status as baseball's greatest pitcher ever coincides perfectly with this truly unfathomable PSA 8 T204 Ramly representation of the fire-balling right-hander. Indeed, both Johnson s' unbridled legacy and this miraculous Ramly offering proudly stand tall with a single other copy as "king of the hill"! The hobby's most iconic cards continue to realize staggering price tags seemingly every day, and one of those pinnacle cardboard keepsakes is the highly coveted 1909 T204 Ramly Walter Johnson that stands as one of his inaugural "Major League" conventional sized cards. Indeed, along with his 1909 T206 issue, the 1909 Ramly Walter Johnson resides as his "traditional" rookie card, and while the Johnson 1908 Rose Postcard certainly precedes his Ramly issue, many meticulous hobbyists still negate the concept of postcards sufficing as true baseball cards.

Most significant, regardless of your viewpoint on the "Big Train's" true rookie card, his T204 subject arguably stands as his most desirable cardboard keepsake. For some inexplicable reason, the ornate and stylish 1909 T204 Ramly set does not include most of the incomparable turn of the century Hall of Famers, excluding such legends as Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Napoleon Lajoie. While some of the games "second tier" stars were included in this Turkish cigarette brand issue (Plank, Brown, Collins, etc.), it remains a mystery as to why the elite aforementioned players were omitted from its distribution. Loaded with common players from the dead ball era, fortunately, one of those players happened to develop into arguably the greatest pitcher who ever toed a Major League pitching rubber, the iconic Washington Senator's right-handed twirler Walter Johnson.

To own any pre-WWI cardboard artifact of the "Big Train" is every vintage collector's goal, let alone Johnson's most sought-after card. Johnson's accomplishments are virtually insurmountable, explaining why most baseball experts nominate him as the greatest pitcher who ever lived. 417 lifetime wins, 3,508 strikeouts, a lifetime 2.17 ERA, and an incredible 110 shutouts (including 38 "1-0" wins!) certainly substantiate this notion. He succeeded the great Christy Mathewson as our National Pastime's consummate professional and was idolized by thousands of aspiring young ballplayers. Consistent with Johnson's supreme status as baseball's greatest pitcher are the outstanding technical attributes of this irrefutable "world class" card. A superb black & white central image of Carl Horner's legendary Johnson portrait image emanates near perfect contrast and crystal-clear focus with Johnson's youthful image serving as a strong reminder of his transition from a simple farm boy to our National Pastime's pinnacle hurler.

Encompassed by the popular gold-bordered oval and flamboyant background gold designs, the immortal pose is positioned virtually "dead-on" 50/50 between nearly flawless gold borders that, atypically, have managed to elude the standard serious surface chipping. Only a microscopic-like hint of surface loss is slightly evident at the two lower utmost corner tips, with the four corners all depicting blistering sharp tips. Ultra-clean front and back surfaces complete this "timeless" gem that simply defies logic. Finding ANY T204 subject in a PSA 8 holder is a seemingly insurmountable task, let alone capturing a "NM/MT" example of baseball's finest all-time hurler. With only a sole other PSA specimen existing at this pinnacle plateau, we now invite you, the elite collector, to make a formidable run at what stands as one of the most remarkable pre-war baseball cards extant!

MIN BID $25,000
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