This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/19/2016
There are only a handful of players throughout the history of baseball whose early impact was felt as powerfully as Tigers outfielder Al Kaline. Courted by fifteen major league clubs, the teenage sensation chose to sign with Detroit in 1953 at a $35,000 bonus and sent off to "The Motor City," where he saw limited action as an 18-year old. Following a rather pedestrian 1954 campaign, Kaline returned to become the youngest player in major league history to win a batting title, posting a .340 mark with 27 home runs, 102 RBI and a league-leading 200 hits, finishing 2nd behind Yogi Berra for American League Most Valuable Player honors. Though Kaline would never win another batting crown, he did top the .300 mark eight more times in his 22-year career while smashing 399 homers and joining the illustrious 3,000 hit club. Making his pasteboard debut in the 1954 Topps series, Kaline is often overlooked with rookie cards of Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks premiering in the same collection, however there are fewer PSA 9 examples in existence of Kaline (17) than of Aaron (22) and just slightly more than Banks (14), whose centering and condition problems are well documented. And there's little chance of finding a more superior example, with just one lone specimen residing at the GEM MINT level as opposed to two each for the Aaron and Banks. Flaunting picture-perfect registration, the twin images of Kaline; a baby-faced color portrait and a black and white full-body pose, are delivered with flawless accuracy, cradled by an impassioned red backdrop that is overwhelming in both color intensity and depth. The supporting yellow and black pigments, in addition to the snow-white border, are presented without fault and further tout the unique pack-fresh qualities of this MINT beauty. The amazing strength of the endpoints does nothing to dissuade the critics at PSA from approving a MINT grade, and with this card having recently been evaluated, the PSA 9 label is based on 2016 standards, which many collectors think is far more difficult than in years past. The light vertical rough cut serves to add an aura of authenticity, while the reverse is clean and bright with no signs of expected chipping along the green edges. Over the last year or two, there's been an awakening of sorts within the hobby that has resulted in museum-quality rookie cards of Hall of Famers shattering price records on an almost daily basis. Debut cards of Aaron, Clemente, Koufax and Mantle, among others, have reached heights never before thought possible, and the only thing preventing Kaline's RC from reaching that same level is simply that there haven't been any available ... until now.