If you followed baseball in the first half of the 20 th century, you knew Eddie Collins. He was simply among the greatest ever to play the game. In fact, many consider him to be the greatest second baseman of all-time. This week, you’ll find one of his best cards among our eBay listings: a 1911 M116 Sporting Life ‘pastel background variation’, graded PSA 6. It’s one of only 57 ever graded by PSA and only 17 have ever been accorded a higher grade. It’s simply a beautiful card and even the ‘6’ grade seems low considering the eye appeal of this beauty. For collectors of the Sporting Life cards, the pastel background is almost always on their want list. Collins was among the first players ever elected to the Hall of Fame for his remarkable accomplishments on the diamond. He was a speedster; the first man in modern history to steal 80 bases in one season. He twice stole six bases in a single game, one of only a small number of players to accomplish the feat. Collins was a perennial .300 hitter and retired with a lifetime average of .333—not bad considering he played in four different decades! A rarity for his day, Collins was a college graduate, having attended Columbia University, something that when combined with his supreme self-confidence, earned him the nickname “Cocky”. The M116 cards were offered as a promotion by the Sporting Life, an early competitor of the Sporting News. The cards were issued 12 at a time for 24 weeks. There are 288 cards in the set, not counting the variations like this one. A master set is 310 cards. The ‘blue background’ Collins is even scarcer, with only around a dozen ever graded by PSA. Whether you chase the variations or not, the M116 set is much less expensive than the ultra-popular T206 set. Packed with star power, it is a favorite with collectors looking for something rare, historic, old and yet attainable.
