Collecting a Legend: Connie Mack
The only player to appear on an 1886-87 Old Judge and Topps baseball card during their career, Connie Mack is considered one of the best managers that baseball has ever seen.
Connie Mack made his major league debut on September 11th, 1886 for the Washington Nationals and played his final game on August 29th, 1896 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his ten year career as a catcher he batted 0.245 with 265 RBI’s. Mack is mostly known for being the manager and owner of the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901 to 1950. He is a five-time World Series Champion and holds the record for most managerial wins, loses, and games managed in major league history. In 1937 Mack was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame with players such as Napoleon Lajoie, John McGraw, and Cy Young.
As an avid Phillies fan, I have always been fascinated by Connie Mack and his part of the trading card hobby. The first time I saw Connie Mack on a baseball card I thought to myself, “Why is this baseball player wearing a suit?” because at the time I never saw a manager on a card before. There are a lot of collectors that jump on the opportunity to own any card of Mack. The 1886-87 Old Judge tobacco card is one that draws tons of bids when it pops up for sale not only because its Mack’s earliest card, but the entire series of Old Judge cards are some of the first mass produced cards in history. Obtaining an Old Judge card of any player can be expensive, but getting one of a Hall of Famer is even harder. The Old Judge tobacco cards were not meant to be collected at the time of production. They were mainly used to reinforce the pack of cigarettes and then be thrown away. Other notable vintage cards of Connie Mack include 1951 Topps Connie Mack’s All Star Team, 1914 Cracker Jack, and 1910 Nadja Caramels.
Even today there is still a strong demand for Connie Mack cards. Over the last few years Connie Mack has had a handful of cut signatures made. Most of his cut signatures appear in the Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts brand of cards. A cut signature of Connie Mack can sell for $500.00 to $1,000.00 depending on the serial number and product type. In the future I hope they make a relic card of Mack. Producing a relic card of Connie Mack is probably extremely difficult due to the lack of his game used memorabilia. Unlike Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, or Ryan Howard, there aren’t too many Connie Mack jerseys lying around the locker room.
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JRJ | Nov 3, 2008 | Reply
Great Connie Mack story. I think he's over-looked in baseball history and the card/memorabilia industry.