Aside from perhaps Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner, no deadball era player is more popular and widely collected than Christy Mathewson. The most famous product of Factoryville, Pennsylvania, Mathewson attended Bucknell University and pitched for minor league teams in Honesdale and Meridian before signing to play in the New England League. By 1900 he was in the majors, establishing himself as one of the premier pitchers in baseball, notably with his legendary performance in the 1905 World Series, where he led the Giants by pitching three shutouts in the seven-game series.
Across Matty’s 17-year career he amassed 373 victories and a minuscule earned run average of just 2.13. His character and general demeanor made him well-liked throughout baseball and even more so among fans; prior to Babe Ruth, Matty was one of the game’s biggest stars, and remains so today.
We are thrilled to have an excellent representation of Mathewson cards in our next auction, beginning with the beautiful M116 Sporting Life card you see above. Also represented are two examples from the Rudy Strejc Collection – his classic T206 “Dark Cap” version (which has been trimmed at the borders like many of the other T206s in the Strejc Collection), and a beautiful S74 Silk.
Also part of the Strejc Collection is Mathewson’s E98 – a strong but collector-grade example with excellent eye appeal for the grade.
This T213 Coupon Cigarettes Matty is a stunningly beautiful example, with tremendous color and clarity. The thin gloss coating on the T213s makes the color appear much more bold than the identical image on Mathewson’s T206. The reverse of the T213 is clear and striking as well, making this a very attractive card.
We’re also featuring several other caramel issues of Mathewson, from the E95 and E102 sets, both represented here.
Lastly, we’ve got a stunning T3 Turkey Red cabinet of Matty, easily the most valuable card in this group. The T3 is part of a large collection of gorgeous T3s that we’ll be telling you about this week, which will be featured in our next two auctions. Mathewson’s iconic T3 image is likely the Hall of Fame pitcher’s best-known, and the card itself is stunning, with a ding to the lower right corner keeping the card out of a much higher holder.
We’re thrilled to have such a diverse assortment of Mathewson cards in our upcoming auction – stay tuned, it’s going to be a great one.