cobb rookie and vintage card counts

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Posted By: Wayne Grove

Here is an answer to a readers question about this that appeared in a recent issue of Beckett Sportd Collectibles Vintage. Maybe this will help clear the date or confues even more.
ANSWER: Jed, it would have been impossible for this set to have been issued in 1908. You need to look no further than the backs of the cards to confirm this (along with the aid of The Baseball Encyclopedia). J.B. “Dots” Miller’s rookie year was 1909 and Dave Shean’s card has him playing for Boston (as does the checklist in the back of all the cards) and he did not play for Boston until 1909. Not to nitpick, but 1909 would have been the absolute earliest the set could have been issued. Let’s explore some other facts to see why we determined that it was issued in 1910. Shean started the 1909 season with Philadelphia of the NL where he played in 36 games before finishing the year with Boston playing in another 75 games. He played the entire 1910 season with Boston before moving on to the Cubs in 1911. It is unlikely that they would have included a rookie in a 25-card set, as was Miller in 1909 (he did hit .279 in 151 games), unless it was a late season 1909 issue. Germany Schaeffer started the 1909 season with Detroit where he played in 87 games before going to Washington (the team named on his card) and played in just 37 games there. Heinie Zimmerman, though with the Cubs from 1907 thru 1915, played in only 5 games in ‘07, 46 games in ’08, and 65 in ’09 so it is much more likely that he would be included in a 1910 set. 1910 is the only year that all the players in the set played for the teams that they are listed with on the cards, although Red Kleinow played in only 6 games for New York before going to Boston to finish out the 1910 season. Looking at all these facts makes an issue date of 1908 is impossible unless they were clairvoyant in 1908, late 1909 would be an outside possibility but doubtful, 1910 is the most obvious choice so if you want your cards slabbed with the correct set name that would make BVG is your only choice.