A cricketer, baseball player, and league executive, Maxson Mortimer Rogers was also a professional printer who self-published a weekly sports publication called the New England Chronicle in 1869-70.  In 1871, Rogers began printing "Base Ball Photographic Cards" and selling them at games, with a goal of producing cards of every prominent player in the country.  These Mort Rogers Scorecards were four-panel folded scorecards, each of which included a photograph glued into an ornately-framed border, with the player's name, position and team typeset underneath. Advertisements on the reverse panel, with the interior pages including a blank scorecard.  The scorecards are the product of expert craftsmanship, each card carefully assembled by hand, each photo individually glued in place. Despite his goal of producing cards of every player, only a few dozen were likely produced, with somewhere between 12 and two dozen surviving subjects known today.  The scorecards are extremely rare today, with somewhere between 50 and 100 examples known, with fewer complete scorecards known, as most examples feature only the front cover.

Mort Rogers scorecards are among the most desirable of all the baseball collectibles of the era, and although they are clearly designed as scorecards, a case can be made that they are actually among the earliest baseball cards.  They each feature a player who is clearly identified, their numbering implies that they were issued as a series and intended to be collected, and they serve the dual purpose of advertising a product.  Rogers even calls them "cards." Regardless of definition, Rogers' innovations were far ahead of their time. 

This example features second baseman Charles Sweasy, who was a member of the undefeated 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first all-professional baseball team.  Sweasy is pictured on the 1869 Peck & Snyder trade card, thought by many to be the first baseball card.  He played for the Red Stockings for just that season, released from the team for conduct issues, never a favorite of strict manager Harry Wright. Sweasy is pictured here with the Washington Olympics of the National Association, where he played just five games.

The only known example featuring Sweasy, the scorecard is in exceptional condition, with some age-related blemishes and mild toning evident, with some heavy wear at the fold.  Unscored, the interior is clean and undamaged.  An extremely important and rare piece of memorabilia, one of the earliest collectible items to feature an individual image of a baseball player - in this case, the only known example of former 1869 Red Stockings second baseman Charlie Sweasy.