This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/11/2013
Graded NM/MT+ 8.5 by PSA. Viewing the recently graded example is akin to a euphoric state in which every time you partake inspection of this magnificent pasteboard it seems truly more awe inspiring and flabbergasting than the last time. Hailing from a recent small find of significantly stunning T206 Piedmont reversed cards comes this stunning jewel of the Christian Gentleman, Christy Mathewson. Mathewson was the key cog in John McGraw's New York Giant teams and was absolutely the finest hurler of his day, in fact no pitcher was more honored than Christy Mathewson. Delivering all four of his pitches, including his famous "fadeaway", with impeccable control and an easy motion, the right-handed Mathewson was the greatest pitcher of the Deadball Era's first decade, compiling a 2.13 ERA over 17 seasons and setting modern National League records for wins in a season (37), wins in a career (373), and consecutive 20-win seasons (12). Aside from his pitching achievements, he was the greatest all-around hero of the Deadball Era, a handsome, college-educated man who lifted the rowdy world of baseball to gentile spirit. Matty was the basis, many say, for the idealized athlete Frank Merriwell, an inspiration to many authors over the years, and the motivation for an off-broadway play based on his life and writings. "He gripped the imagination of a country that held a hundred million people and held this grip with a firmer hold than any man of his day or time,"- Grantland Rice. The featured collectible is a dreamy palate of over the top characteristics that each hit on perfection much the same way a slot machine would. To start with, the corners each command the senses of the stunned onlooking enthusiast to the point that it becomes abundantly clear that each point of distinction has commandeered and steered aside the advances of wear for over 100 years of existence. The corners appear as untouched by time and tribulation today as they did the day the card first appeared as part of a tobacco souvenir. The color amazes with precise and deeply hued observations of blue as well as green acting as a perfect backdrop to the spectacle of Mathewson's home white uniform. The flesh-tones of the Bucknell Bravado are equally apparent while topped off by the brown of his cap and glove. The centering is stellar with and ever so slight preference for the left edge to the tune of no worse than 55/45. The borders are a thunderous zeal like white and when displayed with the abundance of inner colors create imagery unlike we have ever encountered on a T206 card. The reverse reveals an equally amazing Piedmont advertisement placed atop the whitest stock one could hope acting as a testament to its uncirculated legacy! Of the 201 Piedmont reversed copies of this card that have been reviewed by the ever difficult yet surely accomplished graders at PSA the offered example sits atop the proverbial mountain and lays claim to being the 1 and ONLY example that has been graded NM/MT+ 8.5 by PSA with no examples graded higher! A spectacular collectible offered at the pinnacle of its availability in strong and utterly satisfying NM/MT+ condition teetering on MINT condition!