Best of 2014 - An Authentic John McGraw!

Sometimes you have to have a card just because.  It may not fit specifically within the realm of what you typically collect, but for whatever reason it just speaks to you.  Today's card is one of those examples; one I picked up way back at the beginning of the year and am only finally getting around to posting about now.  I never even knew it existed before stumbling across it, but had to have it once I did.  I was really on an old-time baseball kick at the time, and it shows with this purchase...  

A beauty, isn't it?  John McGraw is one of the most fascinating figures in baseball history, and someone I've long wanted represented within my vintage baseball card collection.  A very solid player, John really made his name as the long-time manager of the New York Giants.  I won't do him any justice by trying to type up a career summary here, but if you're a baseball fan who doesn't know much about McGraw I can't encourage you enough to go and do some research.  He left an impression on the game like few others have done over the course of its history.

I knew that when I eventually landed a card of his I'd want it to be from his managing days, and this one from American Caramel's 1922 E121 series fits the bill.  Let's take a closer look at the front:

A simple design with a basic framed photo, subject name, position and team in plain type along the bottom.  These are all about the terrific black and white photographs.  They sort of remind me of the fantastic Conlon Collection set that came out in the early '90s, just released 70 years earlier! 

What sold me on this card is that the photograph is exactly how I picture John in my mind.  I've always thought that if I had access to a time machine one of the things I'd love to do would be to go back 100 years and see a Giants game at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan, with McGraw strolling about and screaming at the umpires.

The backs on this particular release aren't all that exciting if I'm being honest about it, but I think the front is more than interesting enough to make up for it.

Although it consumed nearly 50% of my monthly hobby budget when I picked it up, to me it was well worth it.  Easily one of my favorite pick-ups from this past year!