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Christy Mathewson
(b. August 12, 1880 - d. October 7, 1925)
The legendary Christy Mathewson was the mainstay of the Giants rotation during the early 1900's. His amazing career totals place him near the top of the ladder for that or any era. As baseball's most popular player in his day, Christy dispelled the prevalent notion at the time that ballplayers need be crude and uneducated. "Big Six" was also perhaps the game's best picher. For 12 consecutive seasons he won 20 or more games for the Giants, as his trademark "fadeway," a screwball. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1936, "Matty" had a 373-188 career record, with a 2.13 ERA and 79 shutouts.
 
Inducted in 1936
 
 
1911 T205 Piedmont (Factory 25, VA) Christy Mathewson PSA 6 EX-MT
     
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Click Image to Zoom
 
Comments: I purchased a PSA 6 T205 in November, 1999 for $521 on eBay and sold it for a small profit in April, 2001 in a big sale with a bunch of other cards to a collector in Denver. I took the money and replaced it with another PSA 6 in August, 2001. In June, 2003 I got the opportunity to purchase back many of the cards I sold the collector including the Mathewson. It was nicer than the replacement copy, so I kept it and sold the duplicate. So, in the end I still have the Mathewson I first purchased back in 1999. This will always be one of my favorites and qualifies as a true rarity. There's only 86 PSA-graded copies and no more than twenty better than this beauty. The scan above speaks for itself.
   
Card Details Below:  
Year(s): 1911
ACC Set Designation: T205
Set Name: Piedmont Cigarettes (Factory 25, VA)
Country: United States
Description: Taking their hobby nickname from their gold-leaf borders, these cards were issued in a number of different cigarette brands. The cards nominally measure 1-7/16" X 2-5/8" although many cards, even though untrimmed or unaltered, measure somewhat less than those dimensions in length and/or width. American League cards feature a color lithograph of the player inside a stylizedd baseball diamond. National League cards have head and shoulder portraits and a plain background, plus the first-ever use of a facsimile autograph in a major card set. The 12 minor league players in the set feature three-quarter length portraits or action pictures in an elaborate frame of columns and other devices. Card backs of the major leaguers carry the player's full name (another first) and statistics. Card backs of the minor leaguers lack the statistics. The condition of the fragile gold leaf on the borders is an important grading consideration.
 
Example Piedmont Cigarettes Pack

Example Piedmont Cigarettes Coupon

Front

Back

Example Piedmont Cigarettes Article