Card of the Day: Bill Cartwright 1989-90 Fleer #19

The Playground or Out-Door Games for Boys

In 1953 Congress officially declared Alexander Cartwright the inventor of the modern game of baseball.  Before that, a heated battle went on debating whether Cartwright or Abner Doubleday was the true inventor.  To this day scholars still debate over it, but Cartwright is recognized as the true inventor of the modern game.  One of the pieces of evidence used in the investigation to help declare Cartwright the true inventor was a book published in 1866 titled The Playground or Out-Door Games for Boys.  Inside it describes various activities for children to participate in so they could get some outside activity.  One of these activities is the game of Base-Ball.  It takes you through the basic rules of the game and teaches you everything from how the bases work to how you should use the bat.

This sure isn’t something you see everyday.  Recently a copied surfaced on eBay and the seller was asking $3,500.00 for it.  I think its really interesting to see the game of baseball referenced in such an old book.  Believe it or not, but the world “baseball” was used in a book published in the 18th century, many years before the one pictured below.  Good luck finding either.  Both are extremely rare and expensive.

When this book was published, Connie Mack was only 4 years old.  For a true baseball fan, this book would make one cool collectible.

The Cartwright Cut

This is something you don’t see very often.  Even if one isn’t for sale, its hard to find a picture of an Alexander Cartwright Cut Signature that was pulled from a pack.  Donruss actually produced this card for its 2007 National Treasures Football product.  There is only a handful of Cartwright Cut Signatures floating around The Hobby and I just had to save a picture of this one.  Its not everyday you get to see an autograph of the inventor of the modern game of baseball.  Yes, this card is serial numbered 1/1 and can be yours for only $14,000.00.  I’ve always liked the writing style from this time period.  You don’t see many autographs like this one.

New eBay Purchase – Alexander Cartwright

eBay and the card blogosphere is addicted to the new Allen & Ginter.  It doesn’t matter if you hate it or love it, collectors are talking about it.  Last week I decided to browse eBay to see if there was anything being pulled from A&G that would go great in my collection.  I came across this Alexander Cartwright silk insert #’ed/10 and made the seller an offer.  I like to collect cards of older players/figures and thought this would fit in.  MLB recognizes Cartwright as the inventor of the game.  ’09 A&G has more cards of him than any other product I’ve seen.  He doesn’t have any relic cards and only has a few cut signatures.  This is one card that will stay in my collection forever.

Card of the Day: Alexander Cartwright ’03 UD SP Legendary Cuts Etched In Time