Large c. 1910 unique photograph of a Cleveland Naps catcher posed in full uniform down to the mask and ready for the next pitch. While not his normal position, this young hard hitting outfielder assumed the emergency catching duties for the squad on this day and seemed pleased to be giving the position a try. The man was none other than the great Shoeless Joe Jackson from extremely early in his career. It would be hard to believe that this was Jackson if not for the fact that the image was sold directly from the Jackson family and it is still adhered to the back of Jackson's personal scrapbook, but more important that the provenance is the scrapbook page of vintage newspaper articles (also from Jackson's estate) that accompany the image. An entire article is written on Jackson assuming the catching duties for the day and this image is used with the identification right on the photo of it being Shoeless Joe! The image itself is pretty nice with some wear from handling, by Joe Jackson himself! There is some editorial marking from before the image was gifted to Shoeless Joe, possibly by the photographer himself and these editorial marks are visible in the newspaper photo which is an amazing touch of "photo matching." The fact that this unique image pictures Shoeless Joe Jackson from around his rookie year (they were still being called the Naps) is amazing. The documentation and evidence this comes directly from Jackson himself and the photo probably has his finger prints still on it is out of this world! A Hall of Fame relic that is being offered for the only the second time ever, the first being in 2015 through Lelands when it was sold on behalf of the Jackson family! Two pieces.

Size: 7x11.25
Designation: Vintage 1
Condition: 1.5/5
Quality: 5/5
Overall Grade: 6.5/10