Five years after his legendary performance in the 1905 World Series in which he pitched three shutouts, a feat that’s never been matched, Christy Mathewson appeared in a series of cards issued by The Sporting Life. A rival to The Sporting News, the paper offered readers the chance to trade four pennies for a set of 12 of these cards, catalogued as the 1910 M116 series. Matty was clearly one of the prizes as the first of 24 mini sets hit the mailboxes of baseball fans around the country. He was a superstar of the first right, although by this time, his career was winding down. We’re very excited to have an M116 Mathewson in our current eBay listings but this one is even more special in that it is the ‘blue background’ variation. Coveted by collectors for their scarcity and appearance, the blue background Sporting Life cards have aged gracefully over the last 102 years. The pastel blue hue creates almost a heavenly appearance around Mathewson, a beloved figure who died relatively young after being exposed to poison gas in WWI. His 373 wins stand among the best win totals of pitchers who began their careers in the 20 th century. M116 cards aren’t as widely collected as their T206 counterparts, but are much harder to find. Prices, however, are usually lower. We think this represents a great opportunity for collectors looking for value and we can’t think of a better card to represent that fact that this Mathewson, a beautiful looking SGC 60 with very nice centering. Bidding closes Sunday. We expect it to do well and if you have nice, vintage cards you’d like to turn into cash, please contact us!
