From 1888 through 1891, Alexander Bennett "Ben" Sanders
played for two different teams in three different leagues, and never left the city of Philadelphia. He spent 1888 and 1889 with the Phillies of the National League, then spent 1890 and 1891 with the Athletics who were members of the Players League the first year, then the American Association the next. Sanders is featured on five poses in
the N172 set. This issue depicts the Philadelphia Pitcher in a white uniform at the height of his throwing motion, with his right hand above his head and his body weight thrown forward, counterbalanced by his left arm.
Some Old Judge cards from 1889 and 1890 have a
pink hue to the front of the card, as does this example. It was around
this time when photographers invented a way to add
colored dye to the albumen photographic process. The color pink was the
most commonly used since chemically it worked best. However, often
times, this additional chemical changed the development process and
immediately left the images faded and looking underdeveloped. Some
collectors consider these pink (or purple, or brownish pink) examples to
be different variants of the card. Notice that the back of the card is
the normal color that the rest of the set appears to be, it is only the
front which is dyed.
When it comes to the image itself, this one is
faded, as is normally the case with pink toned Old Judges. Diamond cutting appears, though all four corners are sharp. Edges are crisp, with the exception of the ride side which has some softness.