Winter 2020 Catalog Auction Ending Feb 22
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/23/2020
Graded VG-EX+ 4.5 by PSA. A scarcer "High Number" entry. The legend of Joe Jackson is alive and vigorous in the memorabilia hobby, and the case for his enshrinement at Cooperstown continues to be pressed by a legion of advocates. "Shoeless Joe" was an exceptional player, but his banishment from the game made him even larger than life. The offered card was produced exactly twenty years after Commissioner Landis found Jackson and the other Black Sox guilty of throwing the 1919 World Series. (Interestingly, the back of this card makes no mention of this, instead stating, "He was traded to the White Sox in 1915, and was with them until he stopped playing after the 1920 season.") Unfortunately for modern collectors, few vintage cards of Joe Jackson were produced, and virtually all are discouragingly expensive. This 1940 Play Ball card exhibits minimal wear and boasts favorable presentation quality. A pleasing, lightly circulated specimen, in Very Good to Excellent-plus condition.
This is just one component in a substantial line-up of significant Joe Jackson items presented in this Winter 2020 sale. Vintage trading cards featuring "Shoeless Joe" – the most important figure involved in the forever-fascinating "Black Sox" scandal surrounding the 1919 World Series – are scarce, avidly sought-after mementos of one of baseball's legendary figures.