[GeoPoto]

Card 5: Clifford C. "Gavy" Cravath. "Cactus". Right fielder with the Washington Senators in 1909. 1,134 hits and 119 home runs in 11 MLB seasons, mostly with the Philadelphia Phillies. He had a career OBP of .380 and was one of the most prolific power hitters of the dead-ball era. He led the NL in home runs six times and RBIs twice. He first played 5 seasons in the Pacific Coast League and picked up his nickname by hitting a ball that killed a seagull ("Gaviota" in Spanish) in flight. His MLB debut came in 1908 with the Boston Red Sox. The Senators moved him to Minneapolis after just four games in 1909 and he didn't return to MLB until 1912, when at age 31 he began 9 seasons with Philadelphia. One of his better seasons came in 1913 as he posted a .407 OBP with 19 home runs and 128 RBIs in 594 plate appearances.

Gavy Cravath Piedmont 350: Cravath T206 cards are common (PSA-538). PSA has graded twelve Cravath T206 cards at the PSA 7 level, one at PSA 7.5, and five at PSA 8. Cravath is in Print Group 2.

Heritage/Rounders Entry: Here we have another card graded 7 by PSA with sharp corners and edges and a good clear image. The image is good with minor issues regarding registration and surface wear. The back is clean with moderate fading. This card is centered almost perfectly to my eye, perhaps slightly high and slightly right. Some might say it is centered more than slightly high, but I like the fatter bottom border, which provides ample room for the name and team designation. Overall, the top-to-bottom borders are good; side borders are a little tight, especially the right.

My Entry: Graded 5 by PSA this card presents well. The edges, corners, and surface all show moderate wear, but the image is clear. The centering is also very close to perfect, only slightly high and right. The borders are fair. The back is okay, showing moderate staining and fading.

Comparison: These two cards present very similarly, both with a nice image. The H/R card has crisper edges, corners, and surfaces, but also has a minor registration issue. Both cards have comparable top-to-bottom borders, but my card has a clear advantage with wider side-to-side borders.

My conclusion: I like my card. The H/R card delivers a lot of advantages for the higher grade -- corners, edges, and surfaces are all noticeably superior to those of my card. Both cards present very well. Again, the difference-maker is the borders. Could my card be improved? Probably, but certainly not by replacing it with the H/R card.

The bottom line: If we ignore resale value, I would not trade my card for the H/R card. I like my card better. The issue for me is again borders: my card has better/bigger side borders, which reduces concern regarding the probability of alteration. For me, the enhanced peace of mind provided by the wider borders outweighs my card's technical disadvantages, which, while significant, do not ruin the appearance of the card.

Additional Gavvy Cravath Fun Fact: In 1898 Cravath and his fellow Escondido footballers lost the first-ever high-school gridiron match-up in the history of San Diego County, 6-0, to San Diego High School.