[GeoPoto]

Card 14: Robert "Bob" Groom. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1909-1913. 119 wins and 13 saves in 10 MLB seasons. For the St. Louis Browns in 1917, he pitched a no-hitter in the second game of a doubleheader after pitching 2 innings of no-hit relief in the first game. With Koob, only teammates to pitch no-hitters on consecutive days. His best season was 1912 as he went 24-13 with a 2.62 ERA and Washington finished second in the American League. In 1909, his 7-26 record included 15 consecutive losses, during which his 42-110 Senator teammates mustered a total of 19 runs. Walter Johnson's record that year was 12-25.

Bob Groom Piedmont 350: Groom T206 cards are fairly common (PSA-526). PSA has graded eight Groom T206 cards PSA 8, with none higher. The Groom T206 card is in Print Group 2.

Heritage/Rounders Entry: The PSA 8 H/R card is beautiful: clean crisp image, with a clean surface backed up by sharp edges and corners. The centering looks perfect. The borders are plausible. The back is ordinary, well centered but moderately faded.

My Entry: My card is graded PSA 4 and delivers decent edges and corners. The surface shows moderate wear and staining. It is centered a little left, with very respectable borders, all in all. The registration is not perfect as with so many of these cards. The back is centered okay, but betrays moderate fading, staining, and toning.

Comparison: It is hard to criticize the H/R card. Its borders look plausible, even when compared to my card. The H/R card presents better with a cleaner image. The H/R card has stronger edges and borders. The backs compare favorably, with a slight edge to the H/R card.

My conclusion: The H/R card is a nice card. I could go either way here. Despite all the superior features of the H/R card, I struggle with the way it looks. I trust my card more. But the H/R card is a beauty and comes very close to my card's borders.

The bottom line: If we ignore resale value, I could trade my card for the H/R card. I doubt I would, but it's hard to argue against it.

Additional Bob Groom Fun Fact: During the 1909 15-game losing streak mentioned above, he also pitched two tie games, including the record-setting 18-inning 0-0 tie against the Cobb-led Tigers when Bob relieved injured starter Dolly Gray. In 9⅔ innings of shutout ball, he continually frustrated both Ty Cobb and Wahoo Sam Crawford and was so impressive that even the Detroit fans cheered for him.