The First Baseball Cards

Yesterday afternoon, I posted a long rant about how I'd had a card stuck in shipping purgatory for way longer than it should have.  Thankfully, (potentially) due to a helpful nudge from the USPS help desk, the much-anticipated cardboard rectangle showed up in my mailbox, unharmed, in my mailbox by the time that I returned from work.

Now, I know what you're thinking?  What was this card and why was it worth all of this extra trouble?  Well, sit down, pull up a chair and let me word vomit all over you... ok, maybe I should work on my phrasing...

What we have here is a Ars Longa art card of one Herm Doscher, from their Pioneer Portaits series.  For those who don't know, Ars Longa is a group that creates original, handmade baseball cards of players from ancient baseball history, based on classic designs of the time.  Think about it like a crazy super-duper vintage version of Topps Heritage/Archives, with an infinitely deeper player pool.

Hermie here played in a whole three games for the then-Chicago White Stockings in 1879; thus, necessitating his acquisition for my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection.  Yes, that's how deep into this thing I am - I'm tracking down guys who had cups of coffee in the Reconstruction Era.

Prior to that, Doscher broke into professional baseball 3 years before the establishment of the NL, in 1872 for the Brooklyn Atlantics of the old National Association, the first "major league," a fact which this card notates.

As beautifully designed and colorized the front of this card is, just as much work goes into the backs as well.  Ars Longa goes a long way to recreate the feel of old school tobacco/lithographic cards by including original, artistic "advertisements," much like the backs of the original pieces did (they were advertising vehicles, after all).

I'd say they do a pretty stellar job replicating the feel of an old-timey baseball card - what say you?

Specifically, the old-timey kind of card they're paying tribute to dates back to the year of 1871 and is bigger than Mr. Herm Doscher.  In fact, the set in question has been the subject of a hotly-contested debate about the value and origin of baseball cards.  My interest is piqued; let's delve right into this, shall we?

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Just about a month or so ago, a collection of Boston Red Stockings cards that look like the Ars Longa one above were brought into Antiques Roadshow.  The lady who brought them in really had no idea what she was dealing with, she only knew that they were an old family heirloom.  Come to find out, these cards were designed by a man known as Mort Rogers and were actually trimmed down scorecards that featured embedded photographs of pro baseball players from across the National Association, not just Boston.

Seeing as how they feature the essentially relocated Cincinnati Red Stockings team, the very first openly professional baseball club, the appraiser skyrocketed the value of the set to a million bucks. Adding to the value was the supposed scarcity of a set of cards from just after the Civil War. Add those two factors and you get big money, big money, no whammy.

Renowned baseball historian John Thorn caught wind of this discovery and did some spelunking of his own.  In the process, he discovered that this set of scorecards might very well have been the first set of baseball cards ever produced.  While they might have technically been scorecards, they featured embedded photos of baseballists from across the National Association, were individually numbered and were even marketed as “Baseball Photographic Card(s)” to be collected in a series.

 Here's an up-close look at an original

While individual, lithographic "trade cards" (that is, cards to promote a business or "trade") had been been produced to commemorate specific events, players or teams before, Thorn concluded that this was the first set of cards to be issued in a series and then unleashed on the public.

Of course, this monumental appraisal generated some waves within the baseball and card collecting community.  Was it truly valid?  ESPN's Keith Olbermann, the very same man behind the bios on the back of early TCMA releases, certainly didn't think so when he explored the topic on his segment "World's Worst:"

Whether or not there as many of these cards floating around the market and whether or not he owns as many as Olbermann claims seems to be a bit foggy.  However, the consensus seems to be that, while still inherently valuable and important to the history of the hobby, the cards are not quite worth the bounty that Antiques Roadshow proudly proclaimed.

What Keith didn't directly address was whether or not Mort Rogers should be considered the father of the modern baseball card - a claim which I tend to agree with.

More research by John Thorn indicates that Rogers was an enterprising printer from Boston who saw a fantastic opportunity to capitalize on the engulfing and ever-growing popularity of our nation's pastime.  Inspired by the collectible potential seen in the early lithographic trade cards mentioned earlier, Rogers set to work curating photographs of as many baseballers that he could procure, sometimes taking them himself and sometimes pirating them from other sources.

An original advertisement mentioning Mort's cards

Image courtesy of Hauls of Shame

In the end, Rogers & Fitts, his printing company, stuck them to the ornately designed scorecards, which our Ars Longa beauty apes, and Mort began to hawk them outside of baseball grounds across the country priced from five to ten cents; advertisements from the era place his cards in locations from Boston to Cleveland to Cincinatti to Brooklyn, et al.  Additionally, businesses that had accounts through his printing firm began to sell them in their stores, as well.  I do not believe they came in blaster or rack pack form though.

*If you want to read a more detailed account about this historic birth, I highly recommend that you cruise on over to Hauls of Shame and take a gander at their long-form account of Rogers and his cards.*

Thusly, the first set of baseball cards as we know them today was born; the world would never be the same again.

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I'd say the odds of me owning an authentic Rogers & Fitts baseball card are about as long as the river Nile; so, the Ars Longa oddball that inspired all of this research will be a more than welcome addition to my binders.

It both provided me a chance to add another obscure name to my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection and a learning opportunity about the earliest days of my favorite sport and hobby.  To think, it was very nearly lost forever in the mail.  What a tragedy that would have been!

I've sung the praises of Ars Longa (here, here and here) many time before and I'll continue to stick by my word.  In a time where Topps has a near-total monopoly on the baseball card market, Ars Longa is a refreshing breath of fresh air and creativity when it comes to the hobby.  Not only do they create wonderful individual cards; but, they also shine the spotlight on long-forgotten people and events from our favorite sport's history, creating new chances to learn and grow as fans, as you can see from this here post.

Other Ars Longa cards, from different sets, that have found their way into my grubby hands

I'd take that over seeing the same Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron photo recycled for the thousandth time on the same, tired sets year after year - no contest.  Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a lot of the stuff that Topps produces today; that said, variety is the spice of life, is it not?

Though they might be a little bit pricey ($5-$7 for the low end), I'd whole-heartedly encourage everyone who collects to add at least one of this pieces of art to your collection.

At that, I think I've taken up enough of your time.  I hope you enjoyed consuming my word vomit.... there's those phrasing issues again.

Ars Longa Returns

About a week and a half ago, I sang the praises of Ars Longa, a new company that specializes in producing art cards that evoke the tobacco era and feature players of that same time.  As of now, they are only available on eBay and are a tad pricey, but they are unique and depict players that are just waiting to be added to my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection.

I was so happy with my "Wild Bill" Hutchison, that I decided to go ahead and pull the trigger on another long-forgotten name, one Marty Sullivan.  However, this time I opted for a card from another one of their series - Pioneer Portraits.

Pioneer Portraits features players and baseball dignitaries from 1875-99 in a portrait format.  They take inspiration from the studio portraits & carte de visites (CDVs).  All in all, they make for a quite classy baseball card:

                                             2014 Ars Longa                                                   1887 Original

Beautiful colorization on the black and white photo; compare the Ars Longa to an original tobacco card which used the picture.  As someone who had to do this many times my college photo editing classes, I can say that making it look that natural is very much a pain in the butt.  

Plus, another excellent job with the advertisement on the back; it really adds a lot to the aura.  These truly are "art" cards!

As for the player depicted, there's not a lot of information available about Mr. Sullivan.  What I do know is that he was an outfielder in the NL from 1887-91.  He broke in with the Cubs (then White Stockings) as an everyday outfielder with Anson and Co.  In 115 games in '87, he batted .284 with 7 HR and 77 RBI as a key offensive piece. 

The 1887 Chicago White Stockings; can you spot Marty?

However, he fell off the next season, batting .236 with 39 RBI through 75 games, though he still matched his home run total.  But, it wasn't enough to keep his roster spot and he found himself in Indianapolis in 1889.

After stints with the Boston Beaneaters and Cleveland Spiders, he was done with Major League Baseball by 1891.

And that, my friends, is all I can dig up about Mr. Marty Sullivan.

In conclusion (now this feels like a high school English paper), I recommend adding at least one Ars Longa art card to your cardboard collection.  If for nothing else than the novelty factor; they are really cool to look at after all!

Note - they're only produced in limited runs.  You can check out which cards they are currently selling right here.

Whatta Maroon!

When Bugs Bunny utters that familiar phrase, he's usually commenting on his foil's lack of intelligence.

However, I'm sure Jim McCauley, depicted here on a lovely Ars Longa Art Card that I recently acquired, was no stooge - at least not to the level of Elmer Fudd or Yosemite Sam anyway.

No, McCauley just so happened to be a CHICAGO Maroon.  Oh, you've never heard of them?  Well, neither had I until I came across this card.  Don't worry, I'm not going to get all hipster on you.  I assumed it had something to do with the University of Chicago.

Nope.

The Maroons of Chicago were a member of the Western Association in 1888, which was class A ball - the highest minor league classification of the time.

Information is spotty (I mean, it was 126 years ago) but it seems that it was the first year for the WA and they operated through 1891.  At any rate, only in 1888 did it include the Maroons.

McCauley showing off his catching ability

Jim McCauley was a former big league catcher, trying to keep his dream alive in pro ball.  After brief stints with St. Louis in the American Association and Buffalo in the NL, McCauley came to Cap Anson's Chicago Cubs (then White Stockings) for a whopping 3 games to play the third-string behind Silver Flint and HOF'er King Kelly.

Jim's teammate King Kelly resides in my CATRC, but Mr. Flint is currently a pipe dream

He got 1 hit in 6 at-bats and was sent packing.  After an audition with Brooklyn the next year amounted to little more action, he found himself washed out of the Majors.  But he didn't quit.

Including his 16 games as the starting catcher for the Maroons, McCauley kept on trucking until 1897; but, he never got the call.

You and I would have never learned his story or his team without this card, a fine piece from Ars Longa Art Cards and their "Beginnings: 1880's" series.

I've sung the praises of this card company in my posts about Wild Bill Hutchison and Marty Sullivan; so I won't beat these sentiments into the ground here.  Just know that these vintage-looking cards are well-made and demonstrate superb artistic skills as well as baseball knowledge.

After making the impulse purchase of this card from their Ebay store late one night (I'm as bad as my father is with infomercials), I was contacted by the man behind the magic - Jesse Loving - and it turns out that he's a fan of my project!

As a thank you for my previous reviews on his work, he even offered to send me a bonus card, no charge, of another Cub that I had yet to acquire!

Is that bribery?  Who cares; I'm from Chicago anyway.

Ain't the card community great?

That is truly a beauty from their new Diamond Heads '15 checklist.  The set takes elements from Cracker Jacks, Goudeys and US Caramels and blends them into these 2 3/8 x 3 1/8 bad boys.

Combine those influences with detailed 1915 biographical information on the back (hence the '15) and exceptional artwork (front and back) and you have yourself a nice product.

Bonus points for the blue background on a Cubs card!  You might say that this card made my "O'Day!"

*rimshot*

Hank O'Day was one of the few managers I had yet to find.  He never appeared for the Cubs during his playing career, but skippers count in my collection too.

He led the club for just one season, 1914, taking over for Johnny Evers after the latter was traded away to Boston.  He led the Cubs to a mediocre 78–76 record and a 4th place finish, before being replace by Roger Bresnahan for 1915.  But it wasn't his managerial career that sealed his place in Chicago history.

Technically, the Cubs had 3 successive HOF'ers managing their club in the teens

You see, "The Reverend" was much better known for his umpiring career; in fact, he was inducted into the HOF for it in 2013.  In fact, he was the crew chief one September afternoon as the Cubs and the Giants battled for the pennant:

"On September 23, 1908... Al Bridwell's apparent single drove in the apparent winning run. However, baserunner Fred Merkle never advanced from first base to second, in keeping with the common practice of the era. When the Cubs produced a ball – not necessarily the game ball, which had been thrown into the stands – and claimed a force play at second base, which would negate the run, the debate erupted."

O'Day ruled Merkle out and the game was replayed at the end of the season.  The Cubs won that game, giving them the Pennant and, eventually, their most recent World Series triumph.  Who'd have thought that he'd be managing that same club 6 years later?

 Turns out that all the parties involved later became Cubs and thus enter into my CATRC

Also, can you spot the two "boners" on Merkle's 1961 Nu-Scoops card?

But, getting back to the card itself, it would be a crime if I didn't mention the packaging that it came in.  

Why? Well, because it's as much of a piece of art as the main attraction is.

My Hank O'Day Diamond Heads '15 came seated inside of a top-loader with this eye-catcher in front:

Each series has their own unique "redemption card" like the one you see above.  If you collect 10 of them (no matter which series), you can mail them back into Ars Longa for a free card from a mysterious and otherwise unavailable series.

Anyone out there accomplish this?  My curiosity is piqued.

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And so, that's the story of how some late-night impulse buying lead to my contact with Jesse Loving of Ars Longa Art Cards.  I must say, he's a good guy with a deep knowledge of the game's past and some serious designing skills!

I hope to continue doing business with him in the future and I highly recommend that you do so as well. Everyone could use at least one of these curiosities in their collection.

Without him and his art cards, I never would have been able to add Hank O'Day or Jim McCauley to my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection.

He's no maroon!

Ars-ky & Hutch: The (Not So) Deadly Impostor

Ars Longa (latin for Art is Long) is a new company that has begun producing baseball cards (or art cards, as they refer to them) made to simulate vintage cardboard.  But, it's not like they are trying to pass them off as antiques and con innocent collectors like us, they're just trying to pay homage to a bygone era.

By vintage, I don't mean the 50's; we're talking pre-1900 here.  Ars Longa was started by a guy who wanted to shine the spotlight on some ballplayers who time has passed by - guys he's always wanted to collect but never had the coin to afford such artifacts.  This is a cause that I think we can all relate to.

These art cards feature long-since forgotten players (stars & otherwise) with vintage pictures and designs meant to evoke the old-timey tobacco cards of the day.  The card material is even artificially stressed in order to foster the illusion of a 120 year old piece of cardboard.

The company has a few different themed sets and they are all produced in limited runs, exclusively through their eBay store.

Needless to say, with the era and players that they are choosing to showcase, these cards could prove to be very helpful in my Cubs All-Time Roster collection.  Thus, I knew I had to at least give them a shot.

I was rather excited to see this fall out of my mailbox yesterday:

I love the packaging, it maintains the theme very well without trying too hard.  Also, apparently if you collect ten of these "thank you" cards and mail them back, you get an exclusive card that is otherwise unavailable.  But, seeing as the price of a single card is upwards of $7, that's an expensive task.

Let's take a look at the card itself though; I know you're dying to find out what ancient Cub I excavated!

"Wild Bill" Hutchison (or Hutchinson depending on the source) might be the greatest Cubs pitcher you've never heard of.  He went on an unprecedented three-year period of dominance in the 1890s, when the Cubs were known as the Colts, only to fall back to earth and go out with a whimper.

Also, I have to say, the age-illusion is very well kept; when I first held this card in my hand, I instinctively wanted to tuck it right back into a protective casing, lest I damage a piece of history.  The printing is excellent, using old lithographs and colorized photos on hand-drawn backgrounds that create a beautiful scene.  The card-stock even feels old!  Not to mention the fictional advertisement on the back; a fantastic touch!

The artificial stressing isn't over-the-top, as I feared it might be; just light rounding of the corners and some fraying on the edges.  It'd be considered in immaculate shape if it really dated from the 1890's.

All told, these cards are a bit pricey, but I really dig what Ars Longa is doing here and I am happy to support this unique undertaking; I even have an outstanding bid on one more card from another one of their series.  Here's hoping that they continue to grow and do even more wonderful things!

However, I feel as though I should give you a little bit of background information on  "Wild Bill" before I sign out for the evening.

The Yale alumnus got his first taste of Big League action way back in 1884 with the Kansas City Cowboys (2 appearances) in the short-lived Union Association.  Once that league folded, he was relegated back to the bush leagues for five seasons.

Cap Anson and crew signed him up to serve in their rotation for the 1889 season and he had a perfectly mediocre beginning, but then things took off.

 An authentic Hutchison tobacco card; this one costs significantly more...

Courtesy of metmuseum.org

Starting in 1890, he lead the league in wins, games, games started, complete games and innings pitched for the next three years, even throwing in a saves title in '90 and a strikeout title in '92.  This man basically hoarded awards.

Then, the wheels fell off.  Maybe it was overwork, maybe it was a long-since forgotten injury, but "Wild Bill" became "Mild Bill." Over the next three seasons, his ERA climbed into the 6's , his record sunk well under .500 and he was kicked to the back-burner by future HOFer Clark Griffith.

Hutch was out of the NL by 1896.  He made a brief comeback attempt with the Cardinals (then Browns) in '97, but it only proved that he was toast.  Overall, a rapid ascent from fringe prospect status to superstar, followed by a sudden decline into wildness and ineffectiveness.  Think Carlos Zambrano, but minus the drama.
 

As Crash Davis might say, "million dollar arm - ten cent head."

Even so, Bill still ranks 4th all-time in franchise history in wins (181), 2nd in innings pitched (3021), 6th in strikeouts (1224), 3rd in games started (339) and 1st in complete games (317).  Not bad for such a short run of dominance.

That'll do it for today's post.  I'll be back tomorrow with... something; I haven't decided what though.  Time for some deep soul-searching and meditation.  Well, something like that anyway...

Something That's Bugging Me

Do you remember a few years back when the Royals' Raul Mondesi, Jr. made his Major League debut?  Do you remember what was significant about it, beyond a second-generation, blue-chip prospect making the ultimate ascent?  Raul's first MLB appearance came as a pinch-hitter... on October 30, 2015 a.k.a. Game Three of the 2015 World Series.  That's right, Mondesi's very first appearance in a Big League boxscore came on the absolute biggest stage that the game offers.  A few days later, he'd be hoisting the Commissioner's Trophy along with the rest of his new teammates.

This wasn't the first time that a Major Leaguer made his maiden appearance in a postseason series.  About a decade earlier, Mark Kiger cemented his place in the MLB history books by debuting for the Oakland Athletics, as a defensive replacement at second base, during the 2006 ALDS.  What makes Kiger's instance especially unique is that the middle infielder would never again make it back to the Majors, making him the only player in the game's long history to appear in the postseason and never in the regular schedule.

Both of these cases are unique, as it's incredibly rare that a team will throw an untested player into the most important games of the year.  To illustrate that point, before Mondesi and Kiger, it had been an astounding 121 years since the previous such occurrence.  So long, in fact, that the Chicago Cubs were still known as the Chicago White Stockings, Providence and Buffalo still had NL entries, and overhand pitching had only been legal for two years.

The 1885 Chicago White Stockings - Champions of the National League

Speaking of the White Stockings, it was Cap Anson's club that threw a local amateur player into the fire.  Although the American League was still more than a decade and a half away from existence, the American Association was the main challenger to the National League's authority and, from 1884 to 1890, the two leagues met in October to play an early version of the World Series to determine the overall champion of Major League Baseball.

The 1880's were a dynastic decade for the Stockings of White, as they won five Pennnat flags in that ten-year span.  One of those NL titles came in the year 1885, where they matched up against the AA's St. Louis Browns, who would eventually become the detested Cardinals, in the precursor to the modern World Series.

The Series was much more informal in those days, with the rules and length changing from year to year; thus, it didn't carry quite as much prestige or pageantry as it's modern-day equivalent does currently.  With that in mind, skipper Anson decided to rest some of his men, deciding that the tilt wasn't worth over-exerting or risking injury to his regulars.  Enter Bug Holliday.

James "Bug" Holliday (so nicknamed for his often forlorn expression) was born in St. Louis and made a name for himself on the sandlots of the "Gateway to the West" as a premier amateur player, both on the mound and in the field.  Word of his exploits reached the ears of Cap Anson and Bug was recruited to spell Chicago's regular right fielder, the legendary "King" Kelly, in Game Four of the seven game match-up.  Big shoes to fill AND a big stage - talk about an opportunity.

Two of the heaviest hitters in 18th century baseball were involved in Bug's case.

Game Four took place on October 17th and St. Louis edged out Chicago by a tight margin, 3-2.  Unfortunately, Holliday did not seize the day, going 0-for-4 with a fielding error, to boot.  To put it bluntly, the local periodical summed up the hometown hero's performance by printing, "Holliday, who played right for the Chicagos... did very poorly yesterday."  Holliday's services were not retained by the White Stockings, who would go on to disputably split the series, 3-3, kicking off the long and storied rivalry between the two clubs.

Despite his inauspicious beginnings, Holliday was still considered a top talent with a Major League future.  The next year, he jumped from the amateur ranks to the organized minor league circuits, then would eventually go on to have a ten-year MLB career, starring in the Reds outfield... and it all began with a spot start as a "Cub" in the 1885 World Series.  For more than a century, Bug was the only player to debut in the postseason.

 Then Kiger and Mondesi showed up to steal Bug's thunder.

Why do I bring up the curious case of Bug Holliday now?  Well, late last week, with work slowing down in anticipation of the looming Thanksgiving break, I found myself reviewing my copy of the Cubs' all-time roster.  Since I compiled my list over a decade ago, I figured it might be time to compile a review and make sure I wasn't missing any one; honestly, I can't believe that I hadn't done this sooner... much sooner.  Anyway, other than a few names not listed in correct ABC order and slightly misspelled surnames, everything appeared to be in order... outside of one exception:  Bug Holliday.

You see, when I originally copied my list from the Cubs' official website, the curious case of Bug Holliday was included on their all-time roster.  But, as I was looking over my spreadsheet, I noticed that my count was off by one when compared to the current website.  Apparently, sometime in the intervening years, hug's name was dropped off of the all-encompassing tome.  Why?  

As you see in the screen shot above, Holliday's name should appear in between Ed Holley and Jessie Hollins, yet he is nowhere to be found.

My mind instantly filled with questions:  Does postseason play not count towards the document?  Are the NL vs. AA title bouts not considered to be official?  Is this just some sort of oversight?  I had to know.

The first bit of research I did after I noticed this discrepancy was to see if the aforementioned Mark Kiger was claimed by the Athletics, seeing as his only time in Oakland was also during the postseason and would make for the best direct comparison (Mondesi has since seen significant regular-season playing time in KC).  Here's what I found on the A's official web page:

With the information compiled on the team websites coming from the official MLB record books, apparently Mark Kiger counts.

As far as whether or not those pre-World Series postseason contests are considered to be official Major League games, I can't say for sure.  Baseball Reference seems to classify them as such, as Holliday's Chicago stat-line appears under his player page; however, BR is obviously not the official mouthpiece of baseball's governing body.  It's quite possible that MLB views those "World Series" as exhibition contests, on the same level as Spring Training games.  Of course, it seems as though all of the articles written about Kiger and Mondesi reference Holliday as the first player to debut in the postseason, lending an air of officiality (I just made up a word) to the matter.  Can anyone with more knowledge on the subject enlighten me as to what the league's viewpoint is in this situation?

Courtesy of this murkiness, I'm left with no concrete ruling as to whether Bug is an official Cub - do I include him in my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection or not?  In my humble opinion, he definitely counts, due to his continued reference as the first such player and those early "World Series" carrying significantly more weight than your standard exhibition.  However, I'm curious; if you were in my position, would you include Bug or would you leave him on the sidelines (like the Cubs appear to have done)?

Naturally, my next step after coming to this conclusion was to see what kind of cardboard was available for Mr. Holliday.  Unsurprisingly, despite his stature as one of the premier power hitters of his era (19 big flies in 1889) and relatively long career, as a pre-20th century player, there aren't many options, affordable or not.

Beckett officially recognizes only two appearances for James Holliday - his multiple poses in the legendary, original and legendary Old Judge tobacco issue (name misspelled as Halliday), N172, and something called Pepsin Gum Pins from 1898.  Neither one of these are going to fall into my low-end collecting budget and the latter isn't even actually a card.  Therefore, I think I'm going to have to go a different route to add the baseball oddball.  Perhaps it would have been easier to simply write him off!

 An original "Halliday" Old Judge and Clark Griffith's Pepsin pin.

Thankfully, there exists a reprint set which reproduces several cards from the original Goodwin checklist and Bug happens to be one of them.  The set is marketed by Larry Fritsch Cards, but I can definitively figure out whether or not they are also the manufacturer.  At any rate, this exists as the best and most likely option, even if they are not particularly attractive cards - they look as though someone layed the originals on a fax machine and sent the copies to a printer by wire.  Also, since these cards are traditionally sold as a set, singles tend to be tough to come by on the secondhand market and are often over-priced.

For instance, this reprint is currently available BIN on Ebay - however, at $2.12 for the card and $2.83 for shipping, it's not exactly a bargain.  One never likes to pay more for shipping than they do the actual item.

On the other hand, there is one other modern option that I can identify - Ars Longa Art Cards.  Similar to Helmar, whether or not these hand-distressed, mini pieces of folk-art should count as official baseball cards is a matter of some debate; what isn't up for argument though is that they are expertly crafted and quite beautiful, in hand.  In fact, longtime readers of the blog might recall that I've gone the Ars Longa route a few times in the past to fill vacant slots that would likely otherwise stay empty.  The real problem here is that these cards are only produced in microscopic print runs, ranging anywhere between two and ten, and are released in successive, inconsistent waves.

Holliday's Ars Longa card, featuring an image from his stint with the Des Moines Prohibitionists

So, do I wait for the next Beginnings:  1880's Holliday from Ars Longa (of which, seven are known to exist) or do I settle for the cheap facsimile of his original Old Judge?  Hmmmm.... It will probably be a matter of whichever one I encounter first, at a price I'm comfortable with.  If anyone has a good lead on either, I sure would appreciate the tip!

And so, that's the story of James "Bug" Holliday - the first Major League Baseball player to debut in the postseason, official/unofficial Chicago Cub, and dodger of my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection.  All of this came out of my being bored at work... see what happens when I have too much time on my hands?

Before I wrap this up, I will pose the question to you, the reader, once again:  all things considered, does Bug Holiday count as a Cub?  Would you include him in such an All-Time Roster Collection?  I've already arrived at my decision, but I sure would like to hear about how other collectors would handle this tricky situation.  Do tell in the comment section below.

Would it "bug" you as much as it's "bugging" me?

Five Stars for One Star

The baseball card world is essentially monopolized by Topps.  Sure, Panini and Leaf sneak in with their unlicensed "pajama" cards; however, for all intents and purposes, Topps is not only the big fish in the pond, it's almost the only fish in the pond.  Is this a good thing or a bad thing?  Well, that's up for debate.

What I will say is that I grew up in the Junk Wax Era, where we had a million and a half brands of cards being pumped out each year, not to mention oddballs with our cereal, batteries, underwear and whatever other random retail product you can think of.  In short, I'm quite used to variety and that is the one thing that I miss most about today's collecting landscape.

That said, there are so many creative people on the internet who must feel the same way, seeing as there are countless would-be card designers putting out their own work to fill in the gaps.  We have artificially-aged, vintage-like artifacts from Ars Longa, expertly crafted card artwork from Gypsy Oak, smartphone applications like Rookies to generate cards out of spot-on templates, impressive blogger customs from aspiring designers such as Gavin from Baseball Card Breakdown, and my latest discovery:

 

I picked this Addison Russell card for a buck shipped off of Ebay, courtesy of One Star Chewing Gum Company.  The card features a perfectly-framed image of Addison Russell rounding first base after his incredible grand slam against the Dodgers in Game 5 of the NLCS.  Look at the jubilation in the dugout behind Addy - you can feel the buzz just holding this card!

Speaking of holding it, the stock is a little thin, similar to that of Topps Archives.  That said, Topps has a massively larger budget than that of One Star - so, what's their excuse?

The design features wood grain borders, in the spirit of 1987 & '62 Topps, and a sketched inset of a fielder at the featured player's position, reminiscent of 1973 Topps.  Personally, I could have done without the latter, as it intrudes a little bit on the image; but, it's hardly a fatal flaw.  Meanwhile, my favorite design element on this card might be the baseball bat which forms the right side of the "picture frame."

The back gives a detailed account of the scene depicted on the front; that said, it unfortunately does not notate what series the scene depicted took place in (NLCS).  Rather, we're left with a nebulous "game 5."

At any rate, that's just a nitpick.  The text is big, bold and easy to read; plus, the layout is simple, sleek and thus does not generate the migraines that sometimes come from attempting to read the backs of major card manufacturers.  Also, you might notice that gold foil stamp that commemorates the fact that this Addy Russell is a one of one.  So, that's pretty cool!

Anyway, you might be wondering to yourself at this point, what the heck is One Star Chewing Gum Company?

Well, it appears as though there is actually no chewing gum involved at all.

One Star Chewing Gum Company is the moniker chosen by avid Twitter user and custom card creator Matty Yerkes to market his baseball creations under.  Yerkes has been at this since 2013, creating his own yearly base set and some other creative offshoots along the way, sold through Ebay auctions.  For more information on Yerkes' venture, mosey on over to OneStarGum.com and browse around his designs - there's a lot of pretty stuff, i.e. his custom refractors.  Give Matty a follow on Twitter too (@myerkez) - he often runs giveaways for his work as well.


 

RT win this awesome 1/1 original one star art card from @myerkez  if @KrisBryant_23 doubles or better #WorldSeries #TsbCubs pic.twitter.com/iv7LVuVT8N

— Top Shelf Breaks (@TopShelfBreaks) November 3, 2016

You might notice that the above tweet was originally sent out by Top Shelf Breaks, a case/box breaking service with which Yerkes must do a good amount of work with.  I mention this because, as it turns out, the Addison Russell card which kicks off this post was not the first One Star to enter into my collection:

I found this promotional collaboration in a random dime box at my local card show.  I didn't really know what it was at the time, but an oddball of the infallible Kris Bryant for ten cents?  I'll take that deal every time.

This beauty was printed on sturdier card stock, much closer to your traditional thickness, and is numbered to 500.  I'm assuming it was given away to pimp the Top Shelf name at the National Sports Collectors Convention when it was held in Chicago last year, a location to which the convention will return next year... hmmm....

 

All in all, these One Star Chewing Gum Company cards represent some quality work and another impressive pillar of the online card-creating community.  Keep up the good work Mr. Yerkes!  Topps might have a monopoly, but I think it's quite apparent that there are plenty of aspiring designers who could give them a run for their money. 

At any rate, these Addison and Kris creations will make for welcome and unique additions to my Cubs collection, breaking up the monotony of Topps cards.  As the old adage goes, variety is the spice of life.

Ars Longa, Gypsy Oak, One Star Chewing Gum... there are some creative geniuses in our midst!