1909-11 T206

Jones - Detroit

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Known as the "White Border" set because of its most identifiable feature, this is indisputably the most desired issue in hobby history. Designated "T206" by Jefferson Burdick's in his American Card Catalog, it was issued over a period of three years in packages of cigarettes during a period of intense competition. The set has almost everything collectors could want: errors, variations, minor league cards, most Hall of Famers from the era, and scarce cards. It also contains the most valuable card in the hobby, the legendary Honus Wagner card. The demand for cards from this set is so great that many collectors specify that they will accept T206 cards in any condition, as long as most of the card is still intact!

Murphy - Philadelphia AL

The card fronts feature a color lithograph of a player surrounded by a white border. A few cards were printed in a horizontal format, but almost all of the 524 cards in the set were oriented vertically. Card backs do not contain any statistics; instead, an advertisement appears for the cigarette brand whose package contained it. The cards were printed on sheets by one factory, and each brand was allowed to place its ad on the backs. There are sixteen different brands that issued these cards, with Sweet Caporal and Piedmont the most common. Other brands are Sovereign, American Beaty, Broadleaf, Cycle, Drum, Carolina Brights, El Principe de Gales, Hindu, Lenox, Old Mill, Polar Bear, Tolstoi, Ty Cobb and Uzit. Additionally, some blank-backed cards have been found.

According to Bill Heitman's excellent hobby book The Monster, there are over two thousand different front/back combinations within the T206 set. With variations of some companies' back designs, there are over 30 different backs possible. No card can be found with all the different backs. One brand -- Ty Cobb -- can only be found on a single card, Cobb's own "red background" card. Although most collectors are content to pursue a T206 collection based upon front designs, there are others who collect specific back ads and others who attempt to get a sampling of each different back type. Others insist that T206 should be considered a series of different sets (T206 Piedmont, T206 Sweet Caporal, etc.), much like Burdick himself designated the four different manufacturers of E92 cards.

Schirm - Buffalo (Minor League)

Since the T206 set was issued over a period of years, there are some particulars here that are not found in other sets. In addition to the big league players found in the set, minor leaguers--from Houston to Providence, and Minneapolis to Atlanta--appear as well. The players from the Southern League are harder to find than major leaguers because they were only printed for two of the years (1909-'10) and were mainly distributed around their league's geographic area. Several players in this set are pictured with different poses (Ty Cobb had four and Hal Chase had five). A few players have cards with two different teams, to reflect a trade. The different poses and teams are noted in the checklist below.

Some of the hobby's scarcest card can be found in this set. One of Sherry Magee's cards shows his name spelled as "Magie." While most collectors see it as the most valuable error card in the hobby, others have noted that the "i" may have been the result of a printing flaw (there are several players with misspelled names in the set, but none were subsequently corrected, so there be some truth to that theory). Joe Doyle's "NY Nat'l" variation with Doyle's hand shown above his head is scarce. Long-standing hobby legend states a shortage of Eddie Plank cards was caused by a broken printing plate; whatever caused the scarcity, Plank's Hall of Fame status has only helped the value of the card to rise.

And then there's Honus Wagner's card. No other card in the hobby (not even Mickey Mantle's 1952 Topps card) has generated as much excitement. It is one of the few cards that even non-hobbyists are familiar with because it sells for so much money. There is a great deal of disagreement about why Wagner's card was removed from circulation. The story that has been used most often is that Wagner was against tobacco products and did not want his image used to help sell cigarettes. While that sounds like a noble cause to some collectors, to others it sounds like a latter-day version of the old George Washington/cherry tree story. These collectors insist Wagner had his card pulled because the American Tobacco Company did not pay him enough. Tobacco ads from the same era featuring Wagner have surfaced; additionally, Wagner is shown on a card in the 1948/49 Leaf set stuffing chewing tobacco in his mouth. Whatever reason the card was pulled, it has created the most sought-after card in the hobby.

The checklist below lists all players alphabetically by last name, regardless of league affiliation. Some checklists list all minor league players after the major leaguers; any similarities in players' last names will be noted by his team name.

T206

(1) Ed Abbaticchio(blue sleeves)
(2) Ed Abbaticchio (brown sleeves)
(3) Fred Abbott
(4) Bill Abstein
(5) Merle(Doc) Adkins
(6) Whitey Alperman
(7) Red Ames (hands at chest)
(8) Red Ames (hands above head)
(9) Red Ames (portrait)
(10) John Anderson
(11) Frank Arellanes
(12) Herman Armbruster
(13) Harry Arndt
(14) Jake Atz
(15) Frank Baker
(16) Neal Ball (Cleveland)
(17) Neal Ball (New York)
(18) Jap Barbeau
(19) Cy Barger
(20) Jack Barry (Philadelphia)
(21) Shad Barry (Milwaukee)
(22) Jack Bastian
(23) Emil H. Batch
(24) Johnny Bates
(25) Harry Bay
(26) Ginger Beaumont
(27) Fred Beck
(28) Beals Becker
(29) Jake Beckley
(30) George Bell (hands above head)
(31) George Bell (pitching follow-through)
(32) Chief Bender (pitching, no trees in background)
(33) Chief Bender (pitching, trees in background)
(34) Chief Bender (portrait)
(35) Bill Bergen (batting)
(36) Bill Bergen (catching)
(37) Heinie Berger
(38) Bill Bernhard
(39) Bob Bescher (hands in air)
(40) Bob Bescher (portrait)
(41) Joe Birmingham
(42) Lena Blackburne
(43) Jack Bliss
(44) Frank Bowerman
(45) Bill Bradley: (portrait)
(46) Bill Bradley: (with bat)
(47) David Brain
(48) Kitty Bransfield
(49) Roy Brashear
(50) Ted Breitenstein
(51) Roger Bresnahan (portrait)
(52) Roger Bresnahan (with bat)
(53) Al Bridwell (no cap)
(54) Al Bridwell (with cap)
(55a) George Brown (Chicago)
(55b) George Brown (Washington)
(56) Mordecai Brown (Chicago on shirt)
(57) Mordecai Brown (Cubs on shirt)
(58) Mordecai Brown (portrait)
(59) Al Burch (batting)
(60) Al Burch (fielding)
(61) Fred Burchell
(62) Jimmy Burke
(63) Bill Burns: Chicago AL
(64) Donie Bush
(65) John Butler
(66) Bobby Byrne: St. Louis NL
(67) Howie Camnitz (arm at side)
(68) Howie Camnitz (arms folded)
(69) Howie Camnitz (hands above head)
(70) Billy Campbell
(71) George Carey
(72) Charles Carr
(73) Bill Carrigan
(74) Doc Casey
(75) Peter Cassidy
(76) Frank Chance (batting)
(77) Frank Chance (portrait, red background)
(78) Frank Chance (portrait, yellow background)
(79) Bill Chappelle
(80) Chappy Charles
(81) Hal Chase (holding trophy)
(82) Hal Chase (portrait, blue background)
(83) Hal Chase (portrait, pink background)
(84) Hal Chase (throwing, dark cap)
(85) Hal Chase (throwing, white cap)
(86) Jack Chesbro
(87) Eddie Cicotte
(88) Bill Clancy
(89) Joshua Clarke (Columbus)
(90) Fred Clarke (Pittsburg, holding bat)
(91) Fred Clarke (Pittsburg, portrait)
(92) Nig Clarke (Cleveland)
(93) Bill Clymer
(94) Ty Cobb (portrait, green background)
(95) Ty Cobb (portrait, red background)
(96) Ty Cobb (bat off shoulder)
(97) Ty Cobb (Bat on shoulder)
(98) Cad Coles
(99) Eddie Collins (Philadelphia)
(100) Jimmy Collins (Minneapolis)
(101) Bunk Congalton
(102) Wid Conroy (fielding)
(103) Wid Conroy (with bat)
(104) Harry Covaleski
(105) Doc Crandall (no cap)
(106) Doc Crandall (with cap)
(107) Bill Cranston
(108) Gavvy Cravath
(109) Sam Crawford (throwing)
(110) Sam Crawford (batting)
(111) Birdie Cree
(112) Lou Criger
(113) Dode Criss
(114) Monte Cross
(115a) Bill Dahlen (Boston)
(115b) Bill Dahlen (Brooklyn)
(116) Paul Davidson
(117) George Davis (Chicago)
(118) Harry Davis (Philadelphia, Davis on front)
(119) Harry Davis (Philadelphia, H. Davis on front)
(120) Frank Delehanty (Louisville)
(121) Jim Delehanty (Washington)
(122a) Ray Demmitt (New York)
(122b) Ray Demmitt (St. Louis)
(123) Rube Dessau
(124) Art Devlin
(125) Josh Devore
(126) Bill Dineen
(127) Mike Donlin (fielding)
(128) Mike Donlin (sitting)
(129) Mike Donlin (batting)
(130) Jiggs Donohue
(131) Bill Donovan (portrait)
(132) Bill Donovan (throwing)
(133) Red Dooin
(134) Mickey Doolan (batting)
(135) Mickey Doolan (fielding)
(136) Mickey Doolin (Doolan)
(137) Gus Dorner
(138) Patsy Dougherty (arm in air)
(139) Patsy Dougherty (portrait)
(140) Tom Downey (batting)
(141) Tom Downey (fielding)
(142) Jerome Downs
(143a) Joe Doyle (N.Y. Natl, hands above head)
(143b) Joe Doyle (N.Y., hands above head) 
(144) Larry Doyle (N.Y., portrait)
(145) Larry Doyle (N.Y., throwing)
(146) Larry Doyle (N.Y., batting)
(147) Jean Dubuc
(148) Hugh Duffy
(149) Jack Dunn (Baltimore)
(150) Joe Dunn (Brooklyn)
(151) Bull Durham
(152) Jimmy Dygert
(153) Ted Easterly
(154) Dick Egan
(155a) Kid Elberfeld (New York)
(155b) Kid Elberfeld (Washington, fielding)
(156) Kid Elberfeld (Washington, portrait)
(157) Roy Ellam
(158) Clyde Engle
(159) Steve Evans
(160) Johnny Evers (portrait)
(161) Johnny Evers (Chicago on shirt)
(162) Johnny Evers (Cubs on shirt)
(163) Bob Ewing
(164) George Ferguson
(165) Hobe Ferris
(166) Lou Fiene (portrait)
(167) Lou Fiene (throwing)
(168) James Flanagan
(169) Art Fletcher
(170) Elmer Flick
(171) Russ Ford
(172) Edward Foster
(173) James Freeman
(174) John Frill
(175) Charles Fritz
(176) Art Fromme
(177) Chick Gandil
(178) Bob Ganley
(179) John Ganzel
(180) Harry Gasper
(181) Rube Geyer
(182) George Gibson
(183) Billy Gilbert
(184) Wilbur Goode
(185) Bill Graham
(186) Peaches Graham
(187) Dolly Gray
(188) Ed Greminger
(189) Clark Griffith (batting)
(190) Clark Griffith (portrait)
(191) Myron Grimshaw
(192) Bob Groom
(193) Guiheen
(194) Ed Hahn
(195) Robert Hall
(196) William Hallman
(197) John Hannifan
(198) William F. Hart
(199)  James Henry Hart
(200) Topsy Hartsel
(201) Jack Hayden
(202) J.R. Helm
(203) Charlie Hemphill
(204) Buck Herzog (Boston)
(205) Buck Herzog (New York)
(206) Gordon Hickman
(207) Bill Hinchman (Cleveland)
(208) Harry Hinchman (Toledo)
(209) Doc Hoblitzell
(210) Danny Hoffman (St. Louis)
(211) Harry C. Hoffman (Providence)
(212) Solly Hofman
(213) Buck Hooker
(214) Del Howard (Chicago)
(215) Ernie Howard (Savannah)
(216) Harry Howell (hand at waist)
(217) Harry Howell (portrait)
(218) Miller Huggins (hands at mouth)
(219) Miller Huggins (portrait)
(220) Rudy Hulswitt
(221) John Hummel
(222) George Hunter
(223) Frank Isbell
(224) Fred Jacklitsch
(225) James B. Jackson
(226) Hugh Jennings (one hand showing)
(227) Hugh Jennings (both hands showing)
(228) Hugh Jennings (portrait)
(229) Walter Johnson (hands at chest)
(230) Walter Johnson (portrait)
(231) Fielder Jones (Chicago, hands at hips)
(232) Fielder Jones (Chicago, portrait)
(233) Davy Jones (Detroit)
(234) Tom Jones (St. Louis)
(235) Dutch Jordan (Atlanta)
(236) Tim Jordan (Brooklyn, batting)
(237) Tim Jordan (Brooklyn, portrait)
(238) Addie Joss (hands at chest)
(239) Addie Joss (portrait)
(240) Ed Karger
(241) Willie Keeler (portrait)
(242) Willie Keeler (with bat)
(243) Joe Kelley
(244) J.F. Kiernan
(245) Ed Killian (hands at chest)
(246) Ed Killian (portrait)
(247) Frank King
(248) Rube Kisinger
(249a) Red Kleinow (Boston)
(249b) Red Kleinow (New York, catching)
(250) Red Kleinow (New York, with bat)
(251) Johnny Kling
(252) Otto Knabe
(253) John Knight (portrait)
(254) John Knight (with bat)
(255) Ed Konetchy (glove above head)
(256) Ed Konetchy (glove near ground)
(257) Harry Krause (pitching)
(258) Harry Krause (portrait)
(259) Rube Kroh
(260) Otto Kruger
(261) James LaFitte
(262) Nap Lajoie (portrait)
(263) Nap Lajoie (throwing)
(264) Nap Lajoie (with bat)
(265) Joe Lake (New York)
(266) Joe Lake (St. Louis, ball in hand)
(267) Joe Lake (St. Louis, no ball in hand)
(268) Frank LaPorte
(269) Arlie Latham
(270) Wm. Lattimore
(271) James Lavender
(272) Tommy Leach (bending over)
(273) Tommy Leach (portrait)
(274) Lefty Leifield (batting)
(275) Lefty Leifield (pitching)
(276) Ed Lennox
(277) Harry Lentz
(278) Glenn Liebhardt
(279) Vive Lindaman
(280) Perry Lipe
(281) Paddy Livingstone
(282) Hans Lobert
(283) Harry Lord
(284) Harry Lumley
(285a) Carl Lundgren (Chicago)
(285b) Carl Lundgren (Kansas City)
(286) Nick Maddox
(287a) Sherry Magee (name spelled Magie)
(287b) Sherry Magee (portrait)
(288) Sherry Magie (with bat)
(289) Wm. Malarkey
(290) Wm. Maloney
(291) George Manion
(292) Rube Manning (batting)
(293) Rube Manning (pitching)
(294) Rube Marquard (hands at thighs)
(295) Rube Marquard (pitching follow through)
(296) Rube Marquard (portrait)
(297) Doc Marshall
(298) Christy Mathewson (dark cap)
(299) Chritsy Mathewson (portrait)
(300) Christy Mathew (white cap)
(301) Al Mattern
(302) Jack McAleese
(303) George McBride
(304) Pat McCauley
(305) Moose McCormick
(306) Pryor McElveen
(307) Dennis McGann
(308) James McGinley
(309) Joe McGinnity
(310) Ulysses McGlynn
(311) John McGraw (finger in air)
(312) John McGraw (glove at hip)
(313) John McGraw (portrait, no cap)
(314) John McGraw (portrait, with cap)
(315) Harry McIntyre (Brooklyn)
(316) Harry McIntyre (Brooklyn and Chicago)
(317) Matty McIntyre (Detroit)
(318) Larry McLean
(319) George McQuillan (ball in hand)
(320) George McQuillan (with bat)
(321) Fred Merkle (portrait)
(322) Fred Merkle (throwing)
(323) George Merritt
(324) Chief Meyers
(325) Clyde Milan
(326) Charles B. Miller (Dallas)
(327) Dots Miller (Pittsburg)
(328) Wm. Milligan
(329) Fred Mitchell (Toronto)
(330) Mike Mitchell (Cincinatti)
(331) Dan Moeller
(332) Carlton Molesworth
(333) Herbie Moran (Providence)
(334) Pat Moran (Chicago)
(335) George Moriarty
(336) Mike Mowrey
(337) Dominic Mullaney
(338) George Mullen
(339) George Mullin (throwing)
(340) George Mullin (with bat)
(341) Danny Murphy (batting)
(342) Danny Murphy (throwing)
(343) Red Murray (batting)
(344) Red Murray (portrait)
(345) Chief Myers (batting)
(346) Chief Myers (fielding)
(347) Wm. Nattress
(348) Tom Needham
(349) Simon Nicholls (hands on knees) 
(350) Simon Nichols (batting)
(351) Harry Niles
(352) Rebel Oakes
(353) Frank Oberlin
(354) Peter O'Brien
(355a) Bill O'Hara (New York)
(355b) Bill O'Hara (St. Louis)
(356) Rube Oldring (batting)
(357) Rube Oldring (fielding)
(358) Charley O'Leary (hands on knees)
(359) Charley O'Leary (portrait)
(360) Wm. O'Neil
(361) Albert Orth
(362) William Otey
(363) Orval Overall (hands face level)
(364) Orval Overall (hands waist level)
(365) Orval Overall (portrait)
(366) Frank Owen 
(367) George Paige
(368) Freddy Parent
(369) Dode Paskert
(370) Jim Pastorius
(371) Harry Pattee
(372) Fred Payne
(373) Barney Pelty (horizontal photo)
(374) Barney Pelty (vertical photo)
(375) Hub Perdue
(376) George Perring
(377) Archie Persons
(378) Jeff Pfeffer
(379) Jack Pfeister (sitting)
(380) Jack Pfeister (throwing)
(381) James Phelan
(382) Eddie Phelps
(383) Deacon Phillippe
(384) Oliver Pickering
(385) Eddie Plank
(386) Philip Poland
(387) Jack Powell
(388) Mike Powers
(389) Billy Purtell
(390) Ambrose Puttman
(391) Lee Quillen
(392) Jack Quinn
(393) Newton Randall
(394) Bugs Raymond
(395) Edward Reagan
(396) Ed Reulbach (glove showing)
(397) E.Reulbach (no glove showing)
(398) R.H. Revelle
(399) Bob Rhoades (hands at chest)
(400) Bob Rhoades (right arm extended)
(401) Charlie Rhodes
(402) Claude Ritchey
(403) Louis Ritter
(404) Isaac Rockenfeld
(405) Claude Rossman
(406) Nap Rucker (portrait)
(407) Nap Rucker (throwing)
(408) Dick Rudolph
(409) Ray Ryan
(410) Germany Schaefer (Detroit)
(411) Germany Schaefer (Washington)
(412) George Schirm
(413) Larry Schlafly
(414) Admiral Schlei (batting)
(415) Admiral Schlei (catching)
(416) Admiral Schlei (portrait)
(417) Boss Schmidt (portrait)
(418) Boss Schmidt (throwing)
(419) Ossie Schreck
(420) Frank Schulte (front view)
(421) Frank Schulte (back view)
(422) Jim Scott
(423) Charles Seitz
(424) Cy Seymour (batting)
(425) Cy Seymour (portrait)
(426) Cy Seymour (throwing)
(427) William Shannon
(428) Bayard Sharpe
(429) Frank Shaughnessy
(430) Al Shaw (St. Louis)
(431) Royal Shaw (Providence)
(432) Jimmy Sheckard (glove showing)
(433) Jimmy Sheckard (no glove showing)
(434) Bill Shipke
(435) James Slagle
(436) Carlos Smith (Shreveport)
(437) Frank Smith (Chicago, F. Smith on front)
(438a) Frank Smith (Chicago, white cap)
(438b) Frank Smith (Chicago and Boston)
(439) Happy Smith (Brooklyn)
(440) Heinie Smith (Buffalo)
(441) Sid Smith (Atlanta)
(442) Fred Snodgrass (batting)
(443) Fred Snodgrass (catching)
(444) Bob Spade
(445) Tris Speaker
(446) Tubby Spencer
(447) Jake Stahl (glove shows)
(448) Jake Stahl (no glove shows)
(449) Oscar Stanage
(450) Dolly Stark
(451) Charlie Starr
(452) Harry Steinfeldt (portrait)
(453) Harry Steinfeldt (with bat)
(454) Jim Stephens
(455) George Stone
(456) George Stovall (batting)
(457) George Stovall (portrait)
(458) Samuel Strang
(459) Gabby Street (catching)
(460) Gabby Street (portrait)
(461) Billy Sullivan
(462) Ed Summers
(463) Jeff Sweeney (Boston)
(464) Bill Sweeney (New York)
(465) Jesse Tannehill (Washington)
(466) Lee Tannehill (Chicago, L.Tannehill on front)
(467) Lee Tannehill (Chicago, Tannehill on front)
(468) Luther Taylor
(469) Fred Tenney
(470) Tony Thebo
(471) John Thielman
(472) Ira Thomas
(473) Woodie Thornton
(474) Joe Tinker (bat on shoulder)
(475) Joe Tinker (bat off shoulder)
(476) Joe Tinker (hands on knees)
(477) Joe Tinker (portrait)
(478) John Titus
(479) Terry Turner
(480) Bob Unglaub
(481) Juan Violat
(482) Rube Waddell (portrait)
(483) Rube Waddell (throwing)
(484) Heinie Wagner (bat on left shoulder)
(485) Heinie Wagner (bat on right shoulder)
(486) Honus Wagner
(487) Bobby Wallace
(488) Ed Walsh
(489) Jack Warhop
(490) Jake Weimer
(491) James Westlake
(492) Zach Wheat
(493) Doc White (Chicago, pitching)
(494) Doc White (Chicago, portrait)
(495) Foley White (Houston)
(496) John F. White (Buffalo)
(497) Kaiser Wilhelm (hands at chest)
(498) Kaiser Wilhelm (batting)
(499) Ed Willett
(500) Ed Willetts 
(501) Jimmy Williams
(502) Vic Willis (Pittsburg)
(503) Vic Willis (St. Louis, throwing)
(504) Vic Willis (St. Louis, batting)
(505) Chief Wilson
(506) Hooks Wiltse (pitching)
(507) Hooks Wiltse (portrait, no cap)
(508) Hooks Wiltse (portrait, with cap)
(509) Lucky Wright
(510) Cy Young (Cleveland, glove shows)
(511) Cy Young (Cleveland, bare hand shows)
(512) Cy Young (Cleveland, portrait)
(513) Irving M. Young (Minneapolis)
(514) Heinie Zimmerman