(LOT 84)
"Rare for the Grade" 1964 Topps #12 Rookie Team Card Incl. Pete Rose -1963 Topps All-Star Banquet Composite Team (PSA Mint 9) – "1 of 3"; HIGHEST GRADED EXAMPLE!
Commencing in 1959, the legendary Topps Chewing Gum Co. would sponsor a formal post-season "banquet" to honor its annual rookie all-star team. Thru 1963, dinner programs were handed out including the premier all-star squads from the previous year. At the 1964 banquet, Topps chose to issue a 36-card boxed set in place of the traditional dinner program, with card #12 including ten players who made up the pinnacle rookie team from the previous 1963 campaign. The ten players included eight position players as well as the best right and left-handed rookie pitchers, with the most coveted and distinguished player on the ten-player composite card being the immortal 2nd baseman Pete Rose. Seldom surfacing for the taking, PSA has only encapsulated 20 examples for this #12 composite card that includes Pete Rose, with this PSA Mint 9 marvel joined by only 2 other specimens at this hallowed plateau as the HIGHEST GRADED copy! Pete Rose, mister "Charlie Hustle" himself, currently sits atop baseball's all-time hit list and it is no secret that his true rookie card is the ultra-desirable 1963 Topps high number issue.

However, while thousands of those 1963 Rose cards exist, only a handful of these ultra-scarce 1964 Topps Banquet #12 1963 Rookie Team cards ever surface for the taking, and what finer example to own than this "best of the best" offering! Most likely encapsulated straight from its original box, the card shows no signs of any wear, depicting impeccable surfaces, contrast, and clarity, as well as razor sharp corners. While second baseman Rose is joined by Staub, Weis, Ward, Hall, Davalillo, Harper, Gonder, Culp and Peters, it is the all-time hit king Rose who "steals the show." We all know the story of why Pete Rose hasn't been inducted into baseball's illustrious Hall of Fame. Unfortunately for Rose, in the eyes of the voters, his gambling exploits have superseded his overwhelming on the field accomplishments. While it remains to be seen how this scenario plays out, one cannot deny his all-time hit record, and the aggressive style of baseball he was most famous for that accounted for his renowned "Charlie Hustle" nickname. That said, what possible better card to add to your world-class collection than this 1964 Topps Banquet #12 Rookie Team card sporting the finest PSA Mint 9 grade; an absolute blazer in every sense of the term and truly standing as one of Pete Rose's most elusive cardboard masterpieces!

MIN BID $3,000
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