In the history of professional baseball no pitcher has won more games than Denton True Young, an Ohio native who for two decades dominated the major leagues. Called 'Cy' - first for 'Cyrus' due to his rural upbringing and later for 'Cyclone' to describe his pitching style - he is best known today as being the namesake of the annual award issued to each league's best pitcher.
The striking portrait presented of this T206 Cy Young against a vivid green background is as crisp and sharp as when it was first printed in 1910. Graded conservatively at a PSA 6 EX/MT, the T206 Cy Young portrait is notoriously difficult to find in high grade. In fact, of the 198 submitted to PSA with a Piedmont back only six examples have graded higher than a PSA 6 EX/MT.
The offered T206 Cy Young portrait is part of the recently unearthed Volunteer Collection, an assemblage of rare and desirable cards spanning from the nineteenth century through the 1950s. Owned by a lifelong collector in Tennessee, this T206 Young was clearly one of the man's favorite cards, as he carefully safeguarded it and maintained its impeccable condition for decades. Any collector fortunate to look upon these cards with their own eyes immediately understand why T206 is the most collectable and desirable trading card set issued. The T206 set was issued over the span of three seasons from 1909 through 1911 and timelessly captured some of the game's most enduring legends on a variety of poses. While Young is featured on three cards, his portrait is the most desirable of the trio. By 1910 Cy Young at the tail end of his career as a member of the Cleveland Naps, having only recently returned to the city where he enjoyed his greatest success in the 1890s. At the age of 43 - 'Old' Cy Young as he was then called - still managed to pitch 163 innings and start 20 games. Gone were the 30 win seasons, and the inaugural World Series win in 1903, but Young was still one of the premiere draws in baseball and this T206 portrait was one of the most desirable cards in the set - as it still remains today. Many fathers who had seen Young pitch in his prime, now took their sons to see their idol. A fortunate few were able to obtain this cardboard keepsake of their idol and preserve it for more than a century.
Over the past several years a T206 Young portrait of this quality and clarity has only been seldom offered. Now it is to be seen what collector will step up and face Cy Young more than a century after he retired, and shepherd this treasure from baseball's golden age into the 21st century. Don't miss your chance to own this card.