M101-5 Sporting News 1916
1916 · Felix Mendelsohn, Chicago — distributed by The Sporting News
200-card black-and-white set produced by Chicago printer Felix Mendelsohn and distributed by The Sporting News and as blank-backed advertising premiums. Home of the Babe Ruth rookie card #151. Joe Jackson #86, Jim Thorpe #176, George Sisler RC #166. Numbers 12, 23, and 186 each exist with two different players.
Key Facts
- Release
- 1916
- Manufacturer
- Felix Mendelsohn, Chicago — distributed by The Sporting News
- Distribution
- Mail-order premiums from The Sporting News, and blank-backed versions imprinted by regional advertisers (The Globe Stores, Famous & Barr, Ware's Coffee, Herpolsheimer's, and others)
- Card stock
- Black-and-white photographic cards, 1⅝″ × 3″, blank or advertising backs
- Printer / Designer
- Produced by Chicago printer Felix Mendelsohn
- Series
- Single 200-card numbered issue — numbers 12, 23, and 186 each carry two different players
- Total cards
- 203
Key Cards
Babe Ruth (#151)
THE Babe Ruth rookie card — pictured as a young Red Sox pitcher. One of the most important cards in the hobby.
Joe Jackson (#86)
Shoeless Joe with the White Sox, four seasons before the Black Sox scandal.
Jim Thorpe (#176)
The Olympic legend during his New York Giants years — coveted across multiple collecting hobbies.
George Sisler (#166)
Rookie card of the Browns first baseman who would hit .420 in 1922.
Walter Johnson (#90)
The Big Train in his prime — a 25-win, 1.90 ERA season in 1916.
Grover Alexander (#4)
Pete Alexander during his 33-win, 16-shutout 1916 campaign for the Phillies.
Bobby Wallace SP (#186)
Short-printed Hall of Fame shortstop sharing #186 with Zack Wheat — one of the set's toughest cards.
Casey Stengel (#171)
Listed as Charles Stengel — early playing-days card of the future Yankees dynasty manager.
Honus Wagner (#184)
Listed as Hans Wagner — the Flying Dutchman in his final seasons, and one of his last playing-days cards.
Eddie Collins (#33)
Hall of Fame second baseman in his White Sox prime — a 3,315-hit career.
Buck Weaver (#188)
The doomed Black Sox third baseman, four years before the 1919 scandal banned him for life.
Edd Roush (#146)
Hall of Fame outfielder at the very start of his career — back-to-back NL batting titles followed in 1917–18.