Nash: Is Mort Rogers the granddaddy of the American baseball card?
From SABR member Peter J. Nash at Hauls of Shame on January 20, 2015:
Keith Olbermann recently used the platform of his ESPN telecast to call out Antiques Roadshow appraiser Lee Dunbar for her million-dollar appraisal of a group of trimmed Mort Rogers scorecards featuring portraits of the Boston Red Stockings. In doing so, he echoed the sentiments of the very small group of collectors who either own or have expertise related to the photographic scorecard rarities. However, in criticizing Dunbar’s ignorance about the ephemeral relics, Olbermann also triggered some SABR-spelunking into his own claims on ESPN that a hundred or so Mort Rogers scorecards have survived and stood the test of time.
Digging a little deeper into the history of the scorecards, historian and author, John Thorn, inadvertently discovered that Mort Rogers, a 19th century printer by trade, may have created the very first set of cards sold nationally and designed to feature the pictures of every professional baseball player for a particular season. Based on the information Thorn unearthed in 19th century newspapers, it appears that Rogers was far ahead of his time and could very well be considered the long-lost father of the modern baseball card. Another advertisement from the New York Clipper discovered by HOS appears to support that claim and also suggests that his “invention” and its use as a scorecard was secondary as his product was marketed to the public as cards to be collected as a series. Rogers even identified each of his offerings as a “Baseball Photographic Card.”
Two weeks ago Olbermann told his ESPN audience, “There are at least two dozen different ones (Mort Rogers scorecards) known and at least one hundred in total in existence, even I have a bunch-and they’re in all the catalogs.” But based upon the numbers assigned to each card, there appear to be at least four or five dozen different cards created by the enterprising printer. More importantly, however, was Olbermann’s claim that one hundred copies have survived when Hauls of Shame could only confirm the existence of approximately forty-two score cards–not including the “bunch” in the broadcaster’s own collection.
Read the full article here: http://haulsofshame.com/blog/?p=35971
Originally published: January 20, 2015. Last Updated: January 20, 2015.