A newly discovered early Joe Jackson photo is among the headliners in RMY Auctions’ newly launched August sale.
Stored in an archive for decades, the 3×5 photo originally appeared in the Cleveland Leader, which later merged with the Plain-Dealer. It shoes Jackson sitting on a base, taking a break.
The photo dates from the 1912 season, as evidenced by the one-year style of uniform Jackson is wearing, and it being sold for the first time.
Taken in June of his second full season in the big leagues, the photograph carries a date stamp on the back and remains virtually untouched since it was filed away decades ago. Images from the early years of his career are very rare.
After the Philadelphia Athletics gave up on him, Jackson landed with the Cleveland Naps, playing for the New Orleans Pelicans before coming up to the big leagues for good.
Jackson made a splash in 1911, his first full big league season, batting .408. In ’12, he “slipped” to .395 but led the American League in hits, triples, and total bases and had become one of the game’s rising stars. Seven years later, he’d play in the infamous 1919 World Series and his career would end soon after after Jackson was banished for associating with gamblers who conspired to fix the Series.
The auction, which includes more than 300 vintage photographs from news archives, including several historic baseball images, runs through August 16 at RMYAuctions.com.