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Player O The Week: Spencer 1911

November 2nd, 2007 @ 12:57 am by Cliffe | Sorted Old Sportborder
We’re going back, back, back… way back for this one. Back past the Mariners. Past even the Pilots. The Vintage Seattle Player O The Week goes to Spencer, the catcher for the 1911 Northwestern League Seattle Baseball Club. He’s described as a player who “always catches good ball and infuses plenty of pepper into the game.” The card was made by the American Tobacco Company (advertising their Obak Cigarettes), who started including baseball cards in their cigarette packs in 1909. The most famous of these cards is considered the “Holy Grail” of card collectors, the Honus Wagner. Let’s put aside Honus for now though and examine the Spencer card. Click on the image for more resolution.
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Front: Spencer, Seattle, N.W.L. 1911
spencer_1911_02_back.jpg
Back: Spencer always catches good ball and infuses plenty of pepper into the game. Is a fine backstop and clever at tagging runners. Bats left handed, and ranks as a good hitter. Obak speaks quality in any company. Factory No 171 1st Dist, Cal.

2 Responses:

  1. Jonathan Shipley wrote:

    By “pepper” they mean “illegal substances.” He was the Barry Bonds of his day, I guess. Sad…sad, sad, sad.

  2. Didi wrote:

    LOL! What was “pepper” exactly?

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