If one had to select a single image to capture the quiet intensity of Ty Cobb, the one used for his 1909-13 Sporting News Supplement would be the one. In this iconic portrait, the young ballplayer is shown in a classic bat-in-hands pose, gazing off into the distance. While at first glance it looks to be a young man at ease, a closer inspection reveals the intensity of Cobb’s eyes, with the veins on his hands and arms rippling.
The Sporting News Supplement set was issued by the magazine beginning in July of 1909 and ending in 1913. Measuring 8” x 10,” these full bleed sepia toned pieces featured the best ballplayers of the day using the work of the era’s finest sports photographers. Two circumstances combined to make these among the rarest and most sought-after issues of the Deadball era. The first is that they were printed on a very thin stock that over time has become very prone to brittleness, chipping, and tearing. The second condition that makes this set so rare is that each image was only issued in a single edition of The Sporting News and dated to that issue. The Cobb example dates to August 12, 1909. The original recipients of these Sporting News supplements must have recognized the beauty of the image, because very few have survived their being displayed over the decades.
In fact, this offered piece is not only the highest graded Cobb example, but the highest graded of any of the players in the set. Per the PSA consensus report, only 119 supplements have been able to receive a grade or be given an authentic status, which include the likes of Joe Jackson, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, Tris Speaker, and countless other Hall of Famers. This Ty Cobb is the highest graded of any of them. There were only two other supplements to achieve an equal Grade 3 status, which was a Denton Young/Louis Criger posed together and an Arthur Raymond/George Gibson posed together. For the Ty Cobb, there are a total of 5 graded: three authentic, one graded a 1 (which recently sold in June 2021 for $6,510), and then the most impressive premium of the entire set listed here, given a grade of 3. Of this popular and much-desired set, none are more visually stunning or sought after than the Ty Cobb example, and this is simply the finest in existence. Encapsulated and graded a VG 3 by PSA.