Featured OLD(!) BASEBALL CARD? GAME PIECE?

I bought a box of old sports cards over the week-end & have been able to find out info on all of them (including 2 that were cut outs from old Wheaties cereal boxes!) except this one!
Does anyone know what this is from?
Who the player is on the front?
What year it's from?
Any help would be greatly appreciated



Here are some of the better old cards found in box (including 2 from Wheaties box) ! I had that Mickey Mantle card as a kid!

 

I think the uniform collar shows the photo to be from pretty early in the 20th century. That doesn't mean the game piece is as old as the photo, which could have been printed at a later date.

I'm not very knowledgeable about the Cleveland Indians, but looking at old photos I see he resembles Nap Lajoie, one of their best players from the very early 20th century. Can't say for sure, though.

Paging @BaseballGames for an opinion... and there are other members here who may know.

The game card is interesting. I wonder why it was altered?

 

Agreed.

Here's a uniform from 1912, and the collar is a match:



I think in the 1920s, the collar got reduced.

Supposedly, that is an Away uniform:

 

Looks like some very nice stuff in that box!

 

Good find, INH! So that part is solved. And it is red in color... that is interesting. Now about the game on the back...

Oh, wait! The holder of the one you found says "card game" at the top. So, it is probably the same card!

 

Yes, this link shows both sides. Sorry that I missed that in your link, INH!

https://www.psacard.com/cardfacts/baseball-cards/1913-napoleon-lajoie-card-game/3228

EDIT: And that link has a description of the card game as well.

 

THANK YOU I need help!!
I LOVE this board!

 

Your right - fig tree approached it like a scientist!
Thank you BOTH!

 

I think it was a joint effort. I got it started, @sabre123 contributed pictures of uniforms, and you found that excellent example!

 

Thanks for the alert, sorry we're late to arrive, looks like you guys have figured most of it out (dang, finally a thread that was right down our alley). It is Lajoie, and the game, colloquially known to card collectors, who generally don't give a rodent's keester about games per se, as "the Lajoie game," is actually The National-American Base Ball Game, first published by Parker Brothers sometime between 1910 and 1913. There were many subtle variations made to the graphics over the years the game was in production (into the mid-1920s), including the same Lajoie image in monochrome blue instead of red, and entirely different card-back designs not featuring Lajoie. There's more detail than you'd probably care to know about in this old discussion at our own forum, here:
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/baseballgames/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=232

The Lajoie card and all your other cards have some value to collectors, the '63 Topps Mantle almost certainly being the other card with substantial market value, even though both the Mantle and the Lajoie are what collectors consider "low grade" due solely to condition problems. The encapsulizations by SGC and PSA (two of the only three grading companies widely trusted by collectors) raise the desirability of the Mantle and the '71 Barratt golf cards incrementally, although the collectability of baseball cards far exceeds that of golf or basketball cards.

Apologies if any of that seemed condescending, we're just trying to be informative at a basic level for the many antiquers on board who don't know (or care!) a thing about sports cards. If anyone wants more info about the OP's cache, just let us know!

 

Great post BaseballGames!

One of the few things I know about sports card collecting is that if you see a Mickey Mantle card cheap you buy it! Does anyone know if this is one of the ultra collectable issues?

 

Excellent info, @BaseballGames

 

Thanks, @BaseballGames ! Very interesting -- I believed you would know a lot about this, and you do.

 

Joe, in the demented Wild West of sportscard collecting, where we'd think your term "ultra collectible" would tend to refer to those highly desirable, fairly scarce to impossibly rare cards that bring six or seven figures at auction, the answer would be "no," that '63 Mantle is not in that stratosphere.

However, what you do know is generally about right, as anything Mantle is much sought after, even "common" (a hobby term) items like that particular card. There are literally a few hundred thousand examples of that card circulating among collectors, and any cards from the '63 set are not as much in demand as those from a few sets from other years. And as we said, it's not in high-grade condition -- the SGC 45 / 3.5 / "Very Good Plus" is considered low-mid-grade on the scale of 1 ("Poor") to 10 ("Gem Mint"), and frankly, we're highly suspicious it graded that high, given the visible damage. The slab (plastic case) in which it's mounted looks to have what's known as "frosting" around the edges (from the stiff plastic having been flexed to a point just short of cracking), suggesting a "genuine" 45 / 3.5 / VG+ has been slid out and a card in worse condition slipped in.

Just a guess there, so assuming it has in fact been authentically graded at that level, your best bet for checking value is to watch several eBay auctions (can we say that here?) over the course of several weeks -- there'll be plenty of '63 Mantles for sale there with SGC grades in the 35-50 range or PSA-graded examples between 3 and 5 -- and see what they actually sell for (not, of course, what they start out asking). We see several there right now with starting prices between US $20. and $25., and as many more starting at over $200.-$250. (and ludicrously higher).

We hope that's of some help!

 

That is very informative. Thanks! I collected a few baseball cards as a child in the 1990's and still have some nostalgia for them. Will really need to study up if I start collecting again.