[willworkforT206]

Tim,

The source is Scot A. Reader's Inside T206, Third Editon.

In the Series Discussion section (section III), the commonality of the Joss Pitching card is mentioned on page 32 - "Joss (Pitching) is the most common of the 350/460 RP subjects, rivaling the six 350/460 'superprinted' subjects in availability. It is possible, although far from certain, that ATC liberally printed this subject at the tail-end of the T206 production in response to the well publicized illness of the great Cleveland hurler that led to his premature death on April 14, 1911." (Note: this same text appears in the updated Centennial Edition of Inside T206.)

Also, in the Difficulty Rankings section (section VI), which starts on page 46, Joss (Pitching) is listed with a difficulty ranking of 519. The only cards listed with a lower Difficultly Ranking are Cobb (Red Portrait) at 520, Chance (Yellow Portrait) at 521, Mathewson (Dark Cap) at 522 and Evers (Chicago on Shirt) at 523. (Note: this Difficulty Rankings section was not included in the updated Centennial Edition of Inside T206.)

If this theory has since been discredited, I was not aware.

Steve