Question for the Old Judge experts
 

I have been trying to do some research on a few old judge cards I picked up last year and I am having some trouble with Mulvey. In the standard guide it shows 2 variations but I have come across three. I have seen multiple auctions for the 2 photos of him catching the ball but I have not seen another version of him with the bat other than the one I own. Also the standard guide shows as NL and PL for the national and players league but is there a way to tell which version is which. Thanks for your help.
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...ask/mulvey.jpg

All three of these cards are listed and pictured in the New "Old Judge Book". I think these are all Phil NL.

Mulvey has three poses, all of which first appeared in 1887 (relatively common leading "0" numbered issue).

332-1 Mulvey, Joseph . . . . Hands on thighs, ball head high
332-2 Mulvey, Joseph . . . . Strike, ball chest high
332-3 Mulvey, Joseph . . . . Catch, hands above waist

Poses 2 & 3 were re-issued a number of times. Both can also be found as Gypsy Queen and Old Judge cabinets. PL cards were only issued in 1890, the only year the league existed and the last year of Old Judge production. Only the 3rd pose has been catalogued as an 1890 "PL" issue.

Hope that helps. If you have interest in the set and 19th century baseball in general, you'd enjoy the book that was published nearly a year ago now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Old-Judge-Photo-...item2c526dce09

Edit to add that all the examples above date from 1887 (NL cards). In almost all cases, 1890 PL cards are found with a hand written or block text "PL" somewhere on the card. The 1890 PL cards are tough to obtain even by Old Judge standards.

Your card dates to 1887. That is when the cards with the "Old Judge" banner at top were made. A Players league card would have

OLD JUDGE
CIGARETTE FACTORY

at the bottom of the card, as seen in the example below. Also nearly all the PL cards have PL either written in the negative or as part of the caption on front (there are some exceptions though).

1889 & 1890 cards have the following look to them:
http://www.starsofthediamond.com/n172mullane.JPG

Edited to add: Obviously the Mullane isn't a Players League card (as it is from 1889), it just has the same wording at the bottom that a PL card would also have!

Thanks to all for the quick responses and the great info. I really need to pick up a copy of that old judge baseball card book!

Standard Catalog
 

The 2010 Standard Catalog indicates that there are 4 different Mulvey cards. It doesn't go into any detail, other than "Mulvey 4".

I'm not sure where they get their info, but I would like to know why they list 4.

Rick

There are 4 ( 3 with Philadelphia (NL) as stated above and one (catch, hands above waist) with Philadelphia (PL).