This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 7/18/2019.
Cy Young spent the first eight years of his career with the Cleveland Spiders. The year after his death in 1956 the Cy Young Award was created to honor major league baseball’s best pitcher yearly. His records are so incredible that baseball statisticians believe they will never be broken. Young won 511 games in his career, nearly 100 more wins than anyone else. He threw over 400 innings in each of his first four years and recorded 40 or more complete games in a season nine times. His records include 7,356 innings pitched and 815 games started with 749 complete. He won more than 30 games five times and was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1937. In 1999, he was ranked 14th on “Sporting News” list of “Baseball’s 100 Greatest Players” and also named to the “Major League Baseball All-Century Team.” Offered is one of only two known 1891 John H. Ryder Cy Young cabinet cards. This hobby fresh discovery was unearthed recently from an original album that was found in a factory almost 65 years ago. Our consignor had no idea of the rarity or even the contents found inside. This rookie-era cabinet photo of Cy Young is possibly the first image ever produced of Young in a major league uniform. The photograph captures Young as he poses in a formal studio setting. The photographer's credit, "John H. Ryder - Cleveland, Ohio," appears on the base of the mount and back. This specific image of Young has been seen on a rare 1891 Cleveland Spiders team composite baseball schedule display, dating its origin to his first full season in professional baseball and warranting possible consideration as his true rookie issue. The card has been encapsulated and graded by PSA/DNA a PR 1. An incredibly rare relic of one of baseball’s all-time legends.