This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/7/2022
Graded VG/EX 4 by SGC. Featured for your bidding pleasure is one of the finer 1914 Cracker Jack Joe Jackson's we have ever offered and quite honestly that we have ever encountered. A stunning example that boasts eye appeal far in advance of the harsh technical grade that has been assessed by the stringent graders at the South Florida based grading organization. Jackson swung the bat harder than most of his contemporaries, and players swore that his line drives sounded different from anyone else’s. Many other players held their hands apart on the bat and punched at the ball, but Joe put his hands together near the bottom of the handle and took a full swing. “I used to draw a line three inches from the plate every time I came to bat,” Jackson said many years later. “I drew a right angle line at the end of it, right next to the catcher, and put my left foot on it exactly three inches from home plate.”8 He stood in the box, feet close together, then took one long step into the pitch and ripped at it with his left-handed swing. “I copied my swing after Joe Jackson’s,” Babe Ruth told Grantland Rice in 1919. “His is the perfectest.” The card itself stands as a glorious example of this exceptionally difficult and important card. Four strong upper end corners that each show endpoints of at least NM level but most likely decidedly better than that approaching a NM/MT level. Pure white borders that show no evidence of product staining which is exceptionally prevalent within the release. Self evidently centered to the left edge which may account for a slight downgrade, the card offers a captivating and glorious deep red background that surrounds the great batsman. The reverse is pleasingly printed with no product staining to mar the presentation. A tremendous offering that presents at a level far superior to the opined grade.