If Babe Ruth, with his warm personality and easy-going manner, is baseball’s version of the Beatles, then Ty Cobb, with his attitude and intensity, can only be baseball’s version of the Rolling Stones. Those attributes make him a perfect choice for Baseball History & Art’s first insert card, available in the inaugural issue of the magazine, which has just launched.
The inaugural issue of Baseball History & Art is focused on both baseball history and collecting. A quarterly publication from the makers of Helmar cards, it’s printed on high-quality paper stock. The first issue includes 76 pages plus the insert.
The Cobb portrait is framed against a baseball, reminiscent of the circa 1910 die-cut “Fan for a Fan” collectible and is inserted into each copy of the first issue. Care has been taken to add textures similar to the lithographic processes in use at that time. The reverse of the baseball carries an exhortation to subscribe to the magazine.
In addition to the Cobb card, the magazine also includes these features:
- “Players We Ought to Know” features stories behind history’s most interesting players
- “Black Stars Exhibit” with art and bios of some of baseball’s best blackball era stars
- “Boneyards” feature on Forbes Field, Honus Wagner and the history of that “lost” ball field.
- “Finding Home”, in which author Steve Hermanos tracks down and visits the apartment Christy Mathewson and J.J. McGraw shared in 1903, which is still there.
- “Ticket Stub” feature examines how a no-name rookie beat Bob Feller for the pennant. Written by Dennis Snelling.
- An interview with Marty Appel about Mickey Mantle and the boys as he knew them.
- An examination and discussion of the many Helmar-T206 card backs.
- Auction results of Helmar cards in graph form
- “The Lucky Man,” an interview with super-collector Jerry Bradley
- Mike Shannon, editor of Baseball History & Art, puts the hobby in review in a book review
Priced at $9.95, Baseball History & Art is available at most Barnes & Noble bookstores and can also be purchased on eBay through this link, which also offers listings for Helmar cards.
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