My vintage card of the week. T206 Piedmont Christy Mathewson Dark Cap. This was my first T206 card. When I was collecting as a kid in the junk wax era, the old tobacco cards seemed absolutely ancient. As I’ve aged, they seem a bit less ancient to me, but also more important to the history of the hobby and the game. When I decided I wanted to go after a T206, this card was my first choice. I think it’s just a gorgeous card, and I prefer its appearance to the white cap version and the portrait. And I’m into collecting pitchers because that’s what I did back in my day. My favorite pitcher of all time is Greg Maddux, and everything I’ve read about Matty suggests he was the Professor of his era—focusing on location and movement to disrupt a hitter’s timing rather than overwhelming a hitter with velocity like a Randy or Walter Johnson.  Matty even wrote an article called “Outguessing the Batter” for Pearson’s Magazine back in the day. Look it up; it’s a good read.

Thought I would go old and new school. The great Christy Mathewson since his playing day cards can be a pretty penny I have purchased several of the Topps SPs and other cards in modern era.

I’ve been looking for nice one of these for a few years. While they’re not incredibly rare, they are about 125 years old! The reason I was looking for this one in particular is because I love Jim Thorpe items. And this is, essentially, a rookie card of his. A cool card like this that has multiple Hall of Famer’s is a must-have for me. It only received an SGC 1.5, but the eye appeal is stellar. It received an excellent from PWCC placing on the top of 15% of all similar cards based on eye appeal.