Many collectors are unaware that the 1911 T205 Addie Joss is a memorial card of this great HOF pitcher.
Not only is the T205 Adrian "Addie" Joss a key Hall of Famer and one of the rarer cards in the set (both of which add tremendously to it's desirability), but it was treated as a memorial to this pitching great.Addie passed away from meningitis on April 14, 1911 ending a fantastic career at age 31. He tossed a perfect game against Ed Walsh, another Hall of Fame pitcher, on October 2, 1908 and another no-hitter in 1910. He hurled for 9 years for the Cleveland Blues and Naps (affectionately nick-named after Napoleon Lajoie) and never had a losing season. He won 20 or more games four years in a row for them and 45 of his 160 wins were shut outs.
He was a right handed pitcher who would twist himself entirely around with is back facing the batter before coming around and tossing a side arm delivery to the plate. This was confusing to hitters and won him a career 1.89 ERA.
He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1978.
The reverse of this card reads as follows:
“Addie” Joss, whose death in 1911 was a great loss to his team and to the national game, was a native of Cleveland, and had always played with the team from that city. His best year was 1908, when he won 24 games out of 35, and put the Naps within half a point of the pennant. On October 2 of that year he pitched a game against Chicago, when no player of the White Sox reached first.
He was a faithful player, liked by his team mates and respected by the public, many thousands of whom attended his funeral.
This is certainly one of my favorite of all the T205's and one card I hope to own at some point.
Enojoy the hobby all...it's a wonderful one.
No comments:
Post a Comment