Another T206 once owned by hobby luminary Charles Bray enters my modest collection of beautiful Monsters. It was purchased for a very reasonable sum from an REA auction many moons ago and the funky cut was most definitely a big draw.
Ira Thomas grew up a mile from Abner Doubleday's birthplace; won multiple World Series with the Philadelphia Athletics under the tutelage of Connie Mack; was the personal catcher in Philly for both Eddie Plank and Chief Bender; invested in oil and real estate; and approached high pop-ups in foul territory "like a chicken with the blind-staggers" according to one observer.
Mack once said of Thomas: “Ira can get more out of a pitcher than any other catcher I ever knew. What he doesn’t know about handling pitchers isn’t worth knowing.” The two men shared such a bond on and off of the field that they are buried in the same cemetery.
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