[GeoPoto]

Card 24: Jesse N. Tannehill. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1908-1909. 197 wins and 7 saves in 15 MLB seasons. 1901 NL ERA leader. Pitched a no-hitter in 1904. Debuted with the Cincinnati Reds in 1894. Pitched over 2,750 MLB innings with a career ERA of 2.80.

Jesse Tannehill Sweet Caporal 350-30: Jesse Tannehill T206 cards are common (PSA-522). Jesse Tannehill Washington is generally used to differentiate between Jesse's cards and those of Lee Tannehill who played for Chicago. PSA has graded nine Jesse Tannehill T206 cards at the PSA 7 level and five at the PSA 8 level. The Jesse Tannehill T206 card is in Print Group 2.

Heritage/Rounders Entry: This PSA 7 card presents quite nicely. No complaints regarding surface, edges, or corners. While the argument could be made that it is well-centered a tad left, my eye would argue the centering is also low, crowding the name and team designation. Which brings us to the narrow bottom border, which is troublesome. The back is well centered with moderate fading.

My Entry: My card, which is graded PSA 5, presents well with some minor registration issues. The surface appears clean, and the edges and corners are strong. The card is well centered, but a little left and perhaps high. The back is centered high with moderate fading.

Comparison: The H/R card gets the edge for presentation, but my card competes pretty well. I prefer my card's centering because I dislike crowded bottoms, but the key issue is borders. The H/R card comes up short. If the top border is adequate, then the bottom is not. My card has the better borders. While the difference in borders may not be large, it is significant enough haunt the H/R card. The backs are similar, with the H/R card having the better centering.

My conclusion: I like my card better. The registration imperfection is minor and both cards present well. The decision driver is the borders on the H/R card which surface a concern regarding trimming and create a crowded bottom border.

The bottom line: If we ignore resale value, I would not trade my card for the H/R card. I like the way my card looks and see no reason to trade for a card more likely to have suffered trimming.

Additional Jesse Tannehill Fun Fact: Every year from 1897 to 1904, he ranked among his league’s top five in fewest walks per nine innings pitched.