This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/4/2020
Now joining Mickey Mantle and Sandy Koufax as one of baseball's most collectible post-war subjects, Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente wasn't exactly turning heads following his rookie campaign, posting just a .244 batting average and five round-trippers in 474 at-bats. But his 1956 season was more like the Clemente who would one day land in the Hall of Fame, finishing 3rd in the National League batting race with a .311 average, a prelude to the four National League batting titles that he would earn from 1961-67. Signed as a bonus baby by the Dodgers, the teenager from Puerto Rico got off to a slow start and the Dodgers tried to sneak him through the draft, but a sharp-eyed Pirates scout had already recognized Clemente's potential and the Pittsburgh snapped him up. Good move! The featured card is one of the finest we've ever seen, and without a white-backed example on the books in a GEM MINT holder, it is a truly significant addition to any top-ranked collection. Near perfect centering and a wealth of rich, precise pigmentation yield to the ivory-white border and true to form MINT endpoints. The brilliance of the like-new white reverse only confirms the lofty grade. An incredible specimen of one of baseball's most beloved players, unsurpassed in quality.