What's the real deal with these Cuban cards?

[aljurgela]

Sine of the things that I (think that) I recall were the photo was kind of pasted onto a frame a la the punches instead if integrated into a a seemless card (punches are the only ones pasted onto a piece of paper)..,The coloring was not "black enough" .. The photo was "over processed". From what I recall even the back was wrong (color or font)... Steve and / or Ryan can probably correct any of my assertions here, but it has been a few years since I saw that card.

These cards on auction "look real" and if you read the post in Spanish the expert in Cuban comes to the conclusion based on the silver shining present at an angle that are common on a few of the Cuban issues from the 1920s... Something that the Mendez in Baltimore clearly did not have

Not sure if that helps Leon.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by aljurgela

Sine of the things that I (think that) I recall were the photo was kind of pasted onto a frame a la the punches instead if integrated into a a seemless card (punches are the only ones pasted onto a piece of paper)..,The coloring was not "black enough" .. The photo was "over processed". From what I recall even the back was wrong (color or font)... Steve and / or Ryan can probably correct any of my assertions here, but it has been a few years since I saw that card.

These cards on auction "look real" and if you read the post in Spanish the expert in Cuban comes to the conclusion based on the silver shining present at an angle that are common on a few of the Cuban issues from the 1920s... Something that the Mendez in Baltimore clearly did not have

Not sure if that helps Leon.

Thanks Al, It helped a lot. It is the same process I go through when looking at American cards which I know well. Much appreciated.

[nolemmings]

Thanks Al (Ryan, Steve and others) for sharing what to look for in these. As a type collector who would love to land a few, it's good to know from those in the know how to be better-informed buyers. BTW, your SGC registry sets are fantastic. Hope you don't mind, but I downloaded all the Billiken scans for my virtual collection, which is as close as I will come to actually owning the set. I see where Cesar's site says the cards can be found with La Moda backs--with what frequency are these encountered, if I may ask?

[Scocs]

Ok, Spanish speakers: what does the J, V, C, and H mean on the backs of these cards? Obviously, Ave is average.....

[Scocs]

I have a theory but it needs some historical research. Clearly, on the backs of these cards, the V stands for at bats and the H stands for hits. If you do the math, you get the average. Now, J must stand for games played then ("juegos?). Now, there is no way they only played 6, 8, or 9 games during a Cuban season, so what if.....

....these 4 Almendares cards were indeed issued in 1922, but honored the 1911 and 1915 teams that played games against professional American baseball clubs? It would make sense then that the stats should only reflect 6-9 games, right? And why Pedroso would have his batting stats rather than pitching stats since he probably hit in the games he pitched and the games he did not....

Can someone verify that in 1911 and 1915, the Cuban Almendares club played games against MLB competition in Cuba?