1910 BALTIMORE NEWS ORIOLES (EASTERN LEAGUE) JACK DUNN CGC 1 POOR.
Item Description
The only example known to Hake's. Presented here is a fresh to the hobby discovery from a baseball card set so rare that only a scant few of the most advanced collectors in the hobby even know of its existence. This 1910 Baltimore News Orioles Jack Dunn Manager card, along with a second card from this same set being offered as the next lot, represent only the eleventh and twelfth different individuals known from this exceedingly rare issue. Most, if not all, of the remaining ten different player cards are believed to be the only surviving examples of each. This card depicting Jack Dunn is by far the most important from the series due to his discovery of the greatest ballplayer of all-time, George Herman "Babe" Ruth.
As the first of three different series of baseball cards produced and distributed by the Baltimore News over a five year period, this 1910 issue depicts members of the Eastern League's Baltimore Orioles baseball club on the front of 2.75x3.5" baseball cards produced in either monochrome red and white or blue and white colors with black text schedule backs identifying home and away games along with advertising for the local newspaper at top and bottom. Team members are identified by player name, position, team and league. The Baltimore News would reintroduce this advertising medium once again in 1914 producing two different baseball card sets that season. The first set offered ballplayers from the Federal League's Baltimore Terrapins, the scarcest of the three sets, with examples being nearly impossible to find. The second 1914 Baltimore News set depicted team members from the International League's Baltimore Orioles, including one of the three most valuable sports cards of all-time, the earliest known baseball card of Babe Ruth. Although no one else could live up to the stature of the "Babe", the second most important card from this rare series pictures team manager, Jack Dunn. Yes, the same Jack Dunn being offered here.
Jack Dunn spent several seasons as a utility type player in the National League from 1897-1904, primarily with Brooklyn, Philadelphia and the NY Giants. Dunn took over the reins of the Eastern League's Providence ball club in 1905, leading them to the pennant. However, Jack was best known for his time managing the Baltimore Orioles Minor League team, beginning in 1907. The 1910 edition of the Baltimore Orioles finished with a respectable 83-70 record under player/manager Dunn, good for a third place finish in the Eastern League that season. On February 14, 1914, Jack signed a young pitcher from St. Mary's Industrial school in southwest Baltimore. This school was a training facility for boys who were orphans or wards of the state. As the story goes, Mt. St Joseph High School baseball coach Brother Gilbert was trying to hold on to his star pitcher, a youth named Lee Meadows, for another season. In order to keep Meadows from signing with the Orioles, Brother Gilbert recommended St Mary's southpaw ace George Ruth to Dunn. The rest is baseball history.
While it is impossible to put a definitive value on this amazing card due to the lack of any previous public sales, its close relation to the 1914 Baltimore News Orioles series enables us to offer some comparative prices. Late in 2023, bidding on a Jack Dunn card from that 1914 Baltimore News Orioles set finished just under $25,000. Also, in the same auction, a group of 13 different 1914 Baltimore News Orioles player cards finished just under $100,000. Given that the vast majority of 1914 Baltimore News Orioles cards have multiple examples known, one can only surmise that this 1910 Baltimore News Jack Dunn card being offered here is far rarer while also pre-dating its 1914 counterpart by five years.
Card exhibits moderate margin wear and has some faint creases seen when viewed closely but the image remains clean and bold. Still presents nicely even as a 1 Poor.
You certainly don't want to pass up this opportunity to acquire one of the rarest and most important baseball cards of the pre-war era and waiting for another example could prove futile.
