This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/8/2017
When Jackie Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947, more than sixty years of racial segregation in major-league baseball came to an end and were replaced by several "firsts." He was the first acknowledged black player to perform in the Major Leagues in the twentieth century and went on to be the first to win a batting title, the first to win the Most Valuable Player award, and the first to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He won major-league baseball's first official Rookie of the Year award and was the first baseball player to be featured on a United States postage stamp. So in no way should it be considered hyperbole to state that the 1948-49 Leaf Jackie Robinson rookie card is as significant a card as any that has ever been produced. And other than the usual problems that plague the poorly executed Leaf series, an added issue that keeps high-grade examples of Robinson's debut card to a minimum is the glowing yellow backdrop that is a breeding ground for stray print. While the featured card does show some of that print scattered on the surface, it's minimal compared to most. Combined with a stunningly sharp image of the baseball pioneer, uncharacteristically accurate centering and endpoints that easily breeze by NM specs with NM/MT to NM/MT+ top corners, this exceptional beauty makes the SGC 84 NM 7 grade seem a bit harsh overall. Other than a very slight bias toward the right side, the reverse is nearly flawless with deep black print on a clean slate-gray canvas. A collection-defining card to say the least, and one of the finest you'll ever find at this grade level.