R. Waddell Portrait

This card files under the variation tag "R. Waddell Portrait," the T206 White Border head-and-shoulders pose of George Edward "Rube" Waddell rather than the alternate throwing-pose card that runs alongside it in the set. The player is Waddell (1876–1914), the eccentric left-hander from Bradford, Pennsylvania, whose blazing fastball, sharp curve, and strikeout totals made him the most distinctive pitcher of the deadball era's first decade. Waddell threw left and batted right, stood 6'1", and led the American League in strikeouts six straight years from 1902 to 1907 while pitching for Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics, including 349 in 1904 — a record that stood until Sandy Koufax broke it in 1965. By the time of this card Waddell had been traded to the St. Louis Browns, where he pitched out the last three of his thirteen major-league seasons. He died April 1, 1914 in San Antonio, Texas, of tuberculosis at age 37, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1946 by the Old Timers Committee.