(LOT 45)
1916 M101-4 "Sporting News" Casey Stengel Rookie Card (PSA NM/MT 8) - "1 of 2; The Highest Graded Example!
Presented here is the immortal Hall of Famer Casey Stengel's inaugural Major League cardboard subject, the classic 1916 M101-4 Sporting News back "true" rookie card in an extraordinary PSA NM/MT 8 holder. Currently, this remarkable offering has only been joined by a single other example as the finest of its kind! To avoid confusion, while the 1910 T210 "red border" Stengel certainly resides as Stengel's first baseball card issue (from the T210 Series 6 Blue Grass League), it does NOT qualify as his rookie card since it is a minor league depiction of the "Old Professor". The offered example, however, reflects Stengel in his Brooklyn Dodgers uniform, unquestionably Stengel's FIRST Major League cardboard issue (along with other 1916 advertisement backs). Long before Casey Stengel was managing the New York Yankees dynasty, he made his MLB debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1912 campaign.

The fleet footed outfielder would enjoy a formidable 14-year career, and was the first player to hit a World Series home run at Yankee Stadium when he stroked an "inside-the-park" homer in game one of the 1923 Fall Classic. Casey ended his playing days with a respectable .284 lifetime batting average, unaware that down the road he would embark on an incredible career as the New York Yankees legendary manager, leading them to 10 pennants and 7 World Championships in only 12 years, baseball's greatest managerial feat. He was loved and admired by all, and will forever be famous for his non-stop, rambling speeches called "Stengelese". His portrayal on this iconic rookie card exhibits crystal clear focus and fine contrast, with the classic throwing image atypically well-centered between four super clean off-white borders. The four corners still retain a majority of their original sharp right-angled formations, the blemish free surface has preserved its shimmering gloss, and the super clean Sporting News ad back resides as the final exclamation point for this world-class Stengel rookie memento that proudly stands tall as the "best of the rest!"

MIN BID $1,000
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