This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/10/2015
Jim Thorpe was the greatest athlete of the 20th Century; some say the greatest athlete ever. He was excellent at every sport he tried, and the only American athlete to excel at the amateur and professional levels in 3 major sports—track and field, football and baseball. In 1913, Jim signed a contract to play professional baseball for $5000 for the New York Giants. In one baseball game in Texas, on a field located on the border with Oklahoma and Arkansas, he hit three home runs in three different states. He hit the first one over the left field wall and into Oklahoma. He hit the second one over the right field wall and into Arkansas, and he hit the last homer within the park. Jim played baseball during the summer and football during the winter. He was paid $250 a game to play for the Canton Bulldogs—an enormous salary for a football player in those days. He led the team to the championship in 1916, 1917, and 1919. Thorpe was the first great professional football player and helped to make football a popular sport. He was named the first president of the American Professional Football Association, which later became the National Football League. Jim Thorpe was also inducted as a charter member into the Professional Football hall of Fame in 1963, and his statue is located at the entrance to the museum in Canton, Ohio. The featured card was issued in 1922 after Thorpe had already played in the Major Leagues, here he is pictured as a member of the Portland Beavers of the PCL. Issued with the ever popular Zeenut release that featured Pacific Coast League players is this stellar example of Jim Thorpe's 1922 pasteboard. Sans the bottom coupon the offered card portrays itself far in advance of the opined SGC grade. Mild corner wear as well as some light indentations in the center of the card are all that plagues the issue. The overriding reason for the low assessment is the irregular cut along the bottom edge which is absolutely unobtrusive to the cards overall appearance.