Pre-War Cards

Here are some of the more affordable Hall of Famers you’ll find in the T206 set

Prices on T206 cards, like many early baseball issues, have gotten a bit out of hand. Despite a somewhat large supply of the popular cards, demand has continued to outpace it — leading to rising prices.

If you’re looking for a ‘cheap’ T206 Hall of Famer these days, with the exception of an absolute beater of a card, you’re not likely to find one unless you come across an unknowledgeable or overly friendly seller. But there are certainly some less expensive T206 Hall of Famers out there by comparison to the Cobbs, Mattys, WaJos, and Cy Youngs.

Here are some of the least expensive Hall of Famers in the set.

Joe McGinnity

McGinnity doesn’t have the longevity of many players in the Hall of Fame. But despite playing only ten years, he was good enough that he got in relatively early (1946).

McGinnity played only ten major league seasons but he was a dominant pitcher. In fact, he led the league in wins five times. He won at least 27 games five different times and racked up 66 combined wins in 1903 and 1904. Even in the years he didn’t lead the league, he had some strong seasons, piling up 20+ wins two additional times.

His T206 card isn’t necessarily cheap. But it’s one you can get starting around $75-$100 in decent lower grade condition.

Of note is that McGinnity’s card is actually a post-career card — at least it was issued after his major league career. His T206 card pictures him as a minor leaguer with Newark.

George Davis

Davis is not your prototypical Hall of Famer. By that, I mean his numbers don’t jump off the page at you.

To be fair, he was a career .295 hitter. That’s certainly good enough for the Hall but he rarely topped the league in any statistical categories. The lone exception was in 1897 when he led the league in RBI (135).

Davis is one of the later Hall of Famers in the set. He didn’t get inducted until 1998, about 90 years after this set was introduced to collectors. To say Davis was a borderline guy for Cooperstown was an understatement.

Still, he’s a Hall of Famer and that means his cards don’t come cheap. But with a starting price point of around $60-$80, he’s one of the more affordable guys.

Joe Kelley

Kelley is another of the cheaper Hall of Famers in the T206 set.

With a career .317 batting average, Kelley surely had his share of supporters for induction. But he didn’t reach the Hall of Fame until 1971 so he’s another one of those borderline guys.

He never led the league in any batting categories, though he did top the majors in stolen bases in 1896 with 87 of them. He also finished in the top ten of several categories, including home runs, runs, doubles, triples, and slugging percentage, multiple times.

Like McGinnity’s card, this is technically a post-career card for Kelley, who is pictured as a minor leaguer with Toronto. His career ended in 1908, the year before the T206 cards were first issued.

His lower-end T206 cards typically start around $75-$100 for anything halfway decent.

Rube Marquard

Marquard is famously dubbed as an unworthy Hall of Famer.

He was another late Hall of Fame selection, not gaining admission into Cooperstown until 1971, and some don’t think he belongs at all.

Statistically, Marquard’s numbers are underwhelming. He did lead the league in wins in 1912 (26) with the New York Giants, but he also led the league in losses (18) in 1918. Marquard also finished with only 201 wins, well shy of the magical 300 number.

His .308 ERA wasn’t particularly stellar for the era and his .532 winning percentage doesn’t reek of greatness, either.

Marquard has three T206 cards to choose from, though you can expect to generally pay a bit more for his portrait card. His cards usually start in the $60-$80 range.

Elmer Flick

Flick had a solid 13-year career playing with the Phillies, Athletics, and Naps. His, too, is a card that isn’t too badly priced for that of a Hall of Famer.

What he didn’t have in longevity, he made up with some really strong offensive seasons. Flick was a career .313 hitter that led the league in numerous categories throughout his career, including RBI, triples, runs, and slugging percentage. in 1905, he won the batting title with a relatively modest .308 average while also leading the league in OPS and slugging percentage.

Flick only has one card in the set. But it’s relatively affordable, starting around $75-$100 for a decent card in lower grade.

His T206 card came at the end of his career, which ended in 1910 with Cleveland — the team depicted on his card.

Hughie Jennings/Miller Huggins/Clark Griffith

I’m grouping these three guys together. That’s a bit unfair but I’m doing so simply because they all had distinguished managerial careers and because their prices are all relatively similar.

In the case of Huggins, he’s actually in the Hall as a manager. He had a solid 12-year career as a player with the Reds and Cardinals, but made his mark with the Yankees, winning three World Series titles, and three more American League pennants.

Griffith is in the Hall as an executive/pioneer. Jennings was a career .312 hitter and a well known manager of the Detroit Tigers, helping that club to three straight World Series appearances.

With regards to prices, there’s little separation here. All three subjects have more than one card and, like others, you can expect to pay a little more for their portrait variations. But their other cards typically start in the $60-$80 range in lesser condition. Certainly, cards for all three can be found in low-grade shape under $100.

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