(LOT 20)
1909-11 T206 Tris Speaker Rookie Sweet Caporal 350/30 PSA 8 NM-MT – Only One PSA Example Graded Higher for ALL Ad Backs!
GRAY EAGLE ROOKIE!!! The true Tris Speaker Rookie is his highly coveted 1909 T206 subject, with his Sweet Caporal 350 Subjects tobacco gem offered here in a miraculous PSA 8 NM-MT holder. One of a mere three Sweet Caporal examples boasting the hallowed PSA 8 assessment, only a single specimen has been graded higher for ALL advertisement backs! Since no 1908 Speaker Rose Postcard has ever been officially confirmed, Speakers 1909 T206 tobacco gem stands as the inaugural Speaker cardboard issue that is a must have for any esteemed rookie card compilation. Hall of Famer Tris Speaker clearly stands right alongside the likes of Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, Joe DiMaggio, Ken Griffey Jr., and Mike Trout as one of our National Pastime's greatest all-time center fielders.
Somewhat underrated, the Gray Eagle's 22-year career with Boston, Cleveland, and Philadelphia netted 3,514 hits, including 792 doubles and 222 triples to the tune of an unfathomable .345 lifetime batting average. Yet, it wasn't just his premier batting skills that set him apart from the rest, with Speaker's center field play beyond sensational. Speaker played an extremely shallow center field, almost daring the batter to drive the horsehide sphere over his head. This led to Speaker accumulating the most outfield assists in MLB history (449) including a single-season record of 35 in his 1909 rookie campaign. One look at this timeless masterpiece turns back the clock to the pre-1910 era when Speaker, Cobb and Wagner dominated the grand old game, with his brilliant batting image exhibiting an almost 3D aura via the most imposing bold blue background we have ever encountered.

Maybe the premier PSA 8 Speaker subject, the momentous illustration reveals atypical near-perfect centering between four blinding white borders, with a myriad of T206 Speaker subjects plagued by skewed images. The immaculate frame literally brings the Gray Eagle's timeless batting pose to life as he prepares to stroke another scalding line drive. The "SPEAKER – BOSTON AMER." text along the lower border is completely intact, with the overall clarity and contrast being practically impeccable. Pinpoint corner tips, fine edging, super clean surfaces, and a robust Sweet Caporal ad back complete one of the pinnacle Tris Speaker T206s extant. Before the escalated pricing spikes for high-grade T206 Hall of Famers took shape, another PSA 8 example fetched an extraordinary $66K some five years ago.

One of the most underrated players in baseball history, Tris Speaker's prominent cards have only recently realized an upward trend, with their future prosperity unlimited considering the staggering price tags associated with the likes of Ruth, Cobb, Wagner, and Shoeless Joe. That said, considering this world-class memento presents itself as the best of the best, we cannot even begin to estimate its ultimate value. It's no secret that a Hall of Famer's rookie subject resides as their irrefutable quintessential card, with the most sophisticated collectors revealing an unquenchable thirst for obtaining a player's premier subject. That said, any painstaking search to find a more superior example than this museum-worthy masterpiece will certainly fall short, justifying why you should make every effort to place the final bid on what may be Tris Speaker's most significant card on the planet!

MIN BID $10,000

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