A Shoeless Joe Jackson Is Finally Mine!

It only took well over a decade of collecting for me to finally land a piece featuring a baseball legend and tough hobby target: Shoeless Joe Jackson. I almost certainly could have picked up more conventional items for reasonable prices had I focused on this goal earlier on, but things happen and players are missed. Owning one now is better than not owning one at all.

I can always find a card down the road when money is more plentiful or the market allows, but for now this sweet 1911 Spalding Guide Baseball Team page pairing the Cleveland Naps and Boston Red Sox will certainly do. Shoeless Joe only has but so many items and none are that affordable, so oddball was likely always going to be the direction I went in. I am a huge fan of these Spalding pages so adding one was always a solid path to finding a Jackson piece to add to my collection.

The added bonus of Joe bringing along some recognizable friends in Cy Young, Nap Lajoie, Addie Joss, Elmer Flick, and Harry Hooper was icing on the random vintage goodness cake.

Work Perks: 2019 National PSA Promo Set: Wagner, Cobb, Mathewson, LaJoie, and Shoeless Joe

PSA was giving away a promo set of 5 cards at the 2019 National commemorating some of the all-time great pre-war players. Pre-war is my jam so I asked around until one of the leftover batches of cards was available.

Cobb is by far my favorite of the bunch.

Nap LaJoie Pickup: 1909 T206 Piedmont, With Bat Pose, Slabbed a PSA Authentic!

Here's the final piece of my 2018 Tax Refund Splurge Spectacular. I tried to nab as many good pieces as I could from my boss' tobacco purchase at the start of the year and today's T206 was an obvious choice when I saw its condition fell into the "Perfect for Greg" category: Authentic But Presents Better Than Authentic™.

Nap LaJoie makes for another fantastic Hall of Fame addition to my T206 Collection. Nap was a teamster and card-room sweeper prior to becoming a full-time ballplayer. He won the first Triple Crown in American League history; holds the single-season batting average mark post-1900 with a .426 campaign; and is the only active player in baseball's long history to have his team named after him.

LaJoie almost lost a leg due to dye poisoning that seeped into a spike wound. He had run-ins with umpires and teammates, jumped leagues and had his availability run through the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and was cheated out of the 1910 Batting Title in a close race with rival Ty Cobb.