Good Afternoon, Collectors:
I figured that I would give the Net 54 B/S/T a shot rather than going the traditional auction house route with this item and losing out on the buyer's premium & consignment fees. Since there could be a number of people interested in this item, both Negro League collectors as well as HOF collectors, I want to give everyone a fair shot at it.
This beauty is the only known postcard picturing Frank Grant, the Great Negro League HOF Second Baseman of the late 19th Century - early 20th Century. The only other known "card" picturing Grant is his 1887 Buffalo team cabinet, of which only one copy is known to exist.
No one can imagine the amount of research time that I spent identifying exactly what the significance of this postcard was and who was pictured on it. Here is the short version:
This team photo of the Cuban-X-Giants was taken in Middletown, NY in 1905 before a contest played against the Asylum Baseball Club. The baseball game that took place that day was a reunion of both teams' star players from the mid-1890's, including a youngster named Jack Chesbro, future New York & Pittsburgh HOF Pitcher, who was a baseball player at the Asylum in the mid-1890's.
Extensive research at the Middletown, NY Library uncovered the original box score and recap of the baseball game in the local town newspaper, which only exists today on microfiche. I carefully printed everything out while at the Middletown Library and all of this paperwork will go to the buyer of the postcard.
In addition, this exact team image appears in a biography about Rube Foster with all of the players identified and all match up to the game box score and recap. I also have an image copy of the Asylum team, including Chesbro which will go to the buyer as well. Finally, SGC has included the Frank Grant ID on their flip in addition to the year and team.
Please review scans of the front and back for condition details. Player ID's are as follows: (Back row, left to right) - Dangerfield Talbert, Robert Jordan, E.B. Lamar, Ray Wilson, John Patterson, Clarence Williams. (Front row, left to right) - Frank Grant, Bobby Winston, John Hill, John Nelson, Harry Buckner.
My asking price on this postcard is $ dlvd. and due to the large dollar amount, payment would be preferred in the form of a bank check/money order. I would also consider other "major" Negro/Cuban League items in trade. If interested, please e-mail me at:
vguerrerobb@yahoo.com