1909-11 E90-1 American Caramel Joe Jackson SGC EX 5 - Only Two Higher! - From The Rounders Collection...

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1909-11 E90-1 American Caramel Joe Jackson SGC EX 5 - Only Two Higher! - From The Rounders Collection Joe Jackson's baseball career was one of great triumph as well as tragedy. A prolific hitter who registered a .356 lifetime batting average over 13 seasons in the Major Leagues, he could hit just about anything thrown his way. Playing in 1,332 regular-season games, he collected 1,772 hits, including 307 doubles, and drove in 792 runs. If any of his teams needed a clutch hit, whether it was the Cleveland Naps or the Chicago White Sox, Jackson could be counted on to come through. He also scored 873 runs and stole 202 bases so his impact on every game was evident. All of this makes what ultimately happened to Jackson and seven of his White Sox teammates following the 1919 World Series so tragic.

Competing against the NL Champion Cincinnati Reds in the 1919 Fall Classic, it was discovered after the series concluded that several of the Chicago players had conspired to throw the World Series in exchange for payment from a gambling syndicate, one possibly led by an organized crime figure by the name of Arnold Rothstein. In 1921, newly appointed MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, after weighing the situation and much deliberation. permanently banned all eight White Sox players from professional baseball for their actions. The biggest name of the eight men out was Joe Jackson. So, even though he hit .375 in the World Series and made not a single error in the field, he was still found guilty. His punishment also subsequently banned him from any chance of being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, a stiff penalty that he carried all the way to his grave in 1951.

Offered is the rookie card of perhaps baseball's greatest batsman. While his hitting exploits with the Naps and White Sox were magical, few realize that Jackson really got his start in the Major Leagues with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics back in 1908. He played in just 10 games combined in 1908 and '09 for the A's, but that's where "Shoeless Joe" Jackson's legend actually began. So was it just dumb luck that the American Caramel Company even included him in their 120-card issue? Perhaps, since none of the larger tobacco-backed issues of the same years even thought to feature the young slugger. Therefore his inclusion in the hard-to-find 1909-11 E90-1 issue makes this his true rookie card. For any seasoned baseball historian and/or collector, this card would be the most-talked-about piece in their collection. Graded SGC EX 5. Of the 85 examples found in the SGC Pop Report, this is one of only six cards graded EXCELLENT with just two rated higher.

More Information: The Rounders Collection

It began, as many baseball card collections do, with a boy in the 1950s buying packs of cards with friends. But while others flicked their cards against walls and attached them to their bicycle spokes, he winced at the damage. Cards were treasures meant to be preserved in the same pristine condition as when a pack was first opened.

Fast forward three decades to the 1980s and an alarming phone call from his mom -- "I’m cleaning out your old stuff from your room, including all these baseball cards." That call reignited a dormant passion, transforming a boyhood pastime into a lifelong pursuit.

This journey continued in the decades since, evolving through flea markets across the Carolinas and Virginia, Southern card shows with Marco Rol, and eventually to the digital frontier under the handle ‘Rounders2.’ Leveraging skills honed as a textile industry executive, he used his keen eye and astute attention to detail to assess tiny blemishes and ensure perfect color registration. As the grading industry emerged, he proactively pursued grading specifications with experts to deeply understand what qualities defined each grade. His precision-driven passion made him a fixture in the card-collecting community.

The result is a carefully curated, world-class collection demonstrating a love of the game's history and a deep appreciation for some of the most creative and beautiful cards. This overall collection and the sets within it were pieced together card by card, traded, and upgraded over the last forty years. His pursuit of perfection and talent for identifying cards that grade well and appreciate in value make this a one-of-a-kind collection, including high grade Hobby classics like 1933 Goudey Gehrig & Ruth, a T206 collection comprised of many stunning, high grade and low pop examples from the expansive and beloved tobacco card set, a 1964 Topps Standup collection that is the #2 Current Finest (and #3 All-Time Finest) on the PSA Registry and an extensive collection of baseball card wax packs from the 1950's through the 70's featuring packs from every year between 1953 and 1979.