NNO Ty Cobb

This entry catalogs an unnumbered (NNO) Ty Cobb card from the E101 Anonymous Set of 50, one of the small caramel-card issues circulated around 1910 without an identifying manufacturer back. The player is Tyrus Raymond Cobb (1886–1961), the Detroit Tigers center fielder who at the time of this issue had just won three consecutive American League batting titles and was reigning as the most relentless and reviled player in the game. Cobb batted left and threw right, played 22 of his 24 major-league seasons in Detroit before finishing in Philadelphia, and retired with a .366 lifetime average that no one has approached since. The E101 set shares its imagery with several other anonymous-back caramel issues from the period — E102, E105 — and identifying the precise set requires careful comparison of trim, paper stock, and back. Cobb died July 17, 1961 in Atlanta, Georgia, and was a charter member of the Hall of Fame in 1936, leading the inaugural balloting with 222 votes — more than even Babe Ruth received.