William Aloysius "Blondie" Purcell had a 12-year major league career and appears on several (5) different poses in the massive N172 issue. This one depicts the captain of the Orioles as if standing out in a field, kitted in a dark uniform from cap to boot. It delivers a compelling image, in particular because his reaching hands evoke a preacher reaching up in prayer to the god of baseball.

Though the PSA AUTH grade implies trimming, we see no sign of it. The strong central image has been pushed southward by a top edge cut that includes a slice of text from the card above. Borders are otherwise straight and grade-worthy, with corner wear typical for handled N172s and a bit of foxing on the reverse. The lower corners exhibit honest wear and the lower edge, though cut with a slight tilt, appears natural for the issue, which was hand-cut at the factory and often found with irregular borders. A beautiful card for this grade and one worthy of any Old Judge collection that prioritizes clear images. The combined population reports show just seven encapsulated, putting this on the tougher side of N172 availability.

This card appears as #374-3's reference image on page 356 of the Old Judge book by Miller, Gonsowski, and Masson. Love of the Game is proud to offer several cards seen in their outstanding work of research and presentation as part of our 100+ N172 listings.