Feller rookie?

[BobC]

Originally Posted by MACollector

Why do people consider his 48 Bowman his rookie card when you also have the Leaf that same year and the Goudey 36 and 38 issue? Seems inconsistent with other “rookie” card determinations of vintage players.

Because there is no consensus on what the definition of a "rookie" card should be. Many people, often based on a lot of early price guides like the Beckett's, still seem to follow the thinking that a "rookie" card has to be an actual card, so photos, postcards, premiums, stickers, etc., etc. do not count and cannot be true "rookie" cards. Also, many early guides pushed the idea that a true "rookie" card also could only be one available through a nationally distributed set. So regional or special issues did not count and could not be considered as true "rookie" cards. Most of these types of price and other card guides started to take prominence in the hobby beginning in the 1980's, when the original hobby boom started with the coming to middle age of the Baby Boomers who grew up with the start of the Topps, Bowman, and Leaf nationally distributed sets. So it was only natural that these guides would typically focus on cards and sets starting with those late '40s card sets, and think of cards mostly in terms of just those kinds of cards. For years the Beckett price guides I believe would show the '33 Goudey Babe Ruth cards as his "rookie" cards, even though that was actually Ruth's 19 season playing on the majors. Per their definitions and bias towards sets like the Leaf, Bowman, and Topps sets of the '40s and '50s, the '33 Goudey set was they very first nationally distributed card set that Ruth was featured in that went along with those '40s and '50s Leaf, Bowman, and Topps sets. Thus, the thinking by some that the '33 Goudey cards really are Ruth's true "rookie" cards, and likely also a main factor as to why the Goudey Ruth cards are so much more highly valued than most other earlier Ruth issues.

And like the '33 Goudey cards being shown as Ruth's "rookie" cards, many of those same early price guides and books would show the '48 Leaf cards as player's "rookie" cards, despite often having numerous other earlier cards and items issued for them, just as you mentioned Feller's '36 and '38 card issues, and other items of his released before his Leaf card. Those initial, early hobby guides and books influenced many, many people in the hobby, and those initial impressions and thinking have survived with many still in the hobby to this day. Meanwhile others, especially those into pre-war when there weren't annual releases of nationally distributed card sets every year, realized that the 1980's price guide/book definitions didn't really conform or relate to issues prior to the start of the Bowman/Topps era, and the Baby Boomer rise in collecting cards from when they were kids.