Bobby Wallace St. Louis-A 12/21/10

Bobby Wallace (1873–1960) anchored shortstop for the St. Louis Browns through most of the first decade of the American League, a right-handed hitter and thrower whose glove was considered the best at the position in the era and whose bat was good enough to keep him in the lineup for twenty-five major-league seasons. He had begun his career in the National League with Cleveland and Pittsburgh as a converted pitcher before the new American League enticed him to St. Louis in 1902. This card is a Sporting News supplement dated December 21, 1910 — part of the run of oversized photographic premiums the trade weekly distributed loose between 1909 and 1913, capturing prominent players in formal portrait. Wallace died November 3, 1960 in Torrance, California. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1953.