The 1914 Polo Grounds baseball set takes its name from the image printed on the back of each playing card. The ornate backs present a photograph of the legendary Polo Grounds from the outfield with a flowing graphic and trio of baseballs at each corner and in the middle of the bordering design. The set was originally billed as the “All-Star Card Base Ball” game from The Card Baseball Co. in 1914 and consists of 54 cards.

The unnumbered cards measure 2-1/2” by 3-1/2” with rounded corners. The fronts display a black-and-white, centered, in-action player photograph with his surname and team printed below each image. Along the sides of the photos are the plays of the game such as “Ball”, “Hit”, “Strike” and some sort of play that ensues like “Hit - Short 2 Base Hit” or “Strike – Fly to Short Stop-Out.” The set has 30 different players (24 duplicates) involved in multiple plays for each game. The perception among vintage collectors is that, somehow, game cards are less condition-sensitive due to the waxy coating and rounded corners. But these cards were part of games that were intended to be played, so they were handled as much as any other card and susceptible to wear just the same. 

Offered here is a PSA EX 5 graded example with nice centering and a clean center image. Slight surface wear and soiling keeps this one from grading higher than it already has, though it still has plenty of eye appeal.

PSA has only ever graded 60 total examples of this 1914 Polo Grounds Game card of Hall of Famer Tris Speaker.