1915 Zeenut PCL Claude "Lefty" Williams ("Black Sox")

Sold For:

$720

Year:

1915

Auction:

2020 Spring

Lot #:

697

Category:

Prewar Baseball - 1910s and 1920s Cards

Claude "Lefty" Williams was a promising young left-handed pitcher before being banned from baseball. He was an important contributor for the White Sox, winning twenty-three games in 1919. Chick Gandil and Eddie Cicotte, who helped organize the "Black Sox," knew that they had to have more than one pitcher (Cicotte) in on their conspiracy and went after Williams. Williams enthusiastically obliged and went on to lose all three of his decisions in the Series. Due to his shortened career, Williams appears on very few cards. His 1915 Zeenut is his most desirable card and features him with Salt Lake in the Pacific Coast League, ironically struggling to earn his way into the Major Leagues he would betray just several years later. This is Williams' rookie card. The obvious condition flaws include heavy paper loss on the left portion of the front, even corner wear, and the bottom edge is slightly uneven from coupon removal. The blank reverse has writing and paper loss. Despite the condition problems, this is a still very presentable example of this extremely desirable and rarely offered card of a future Black Sox player from the 1915 Zeenut series. Encapsulated as "Authentic" by SGC (submitted by REA). Reserve $300. Estimate (open).