Five poses that were intended to be printed throughout the 350-460 Series were instead pulled early for various reasons. The Joe Doyle error headlines this list, while four of the remaining five poses fly very much under the radar. Joe Doyle’s corrected error (N.Y.) always sells for a premium, while the relative scarcity of the other four poses remain unnoticed by most collectors.
- Doyle, Joe (N.Y. Nat’l)
- Doyle, Joe (N.Y.)
- Kleinow, Red (New York – Catching)
- Nichols, Simon (Batting)
- Rhoades, Bob (Right Arm Extended)
- Smith, Frank (White Cap)
Because the above poses were pulled from production early, they were not printed with any of the “460” backs that other poses in the 350-460 Series went on to be printed with. Due to being pulled early, the above poses were not printed with the following backs:
- American Beauty 460
- Broad Leaf 460
- Cycle 460
- Lenox
- Piedmont 350-460 Factory 25
- Piedmont 350-460 Factory 42
- Red Hindu
- Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory 25*
- Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory 42*
- Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory 42 Overprint*
- Uzit
Obviously, the absence of any 350-460 Piedmont or Sweet Caporal backs makes a huge difference to the overall population of the five Short Prints**. Less so for the other backs, but even if they would have added up to 30 or 40 cards, that still makes a difference.
Now that we know that these poses were short-printed, let’s take a look at why.
Joe Doyle:
Doyle pitched in 17 games in 1909, going 8-6 with a 2.58 ERA. However, his career came to an end abruptly in 1910. After appearing in 3 games with New York Highlanders, he was sold to Cincinnati for $2,000 on May 31, 1910. He appeared in just 5 games with Cincinnati.
Red Kleinow:
Kleinow’s contract was purchased by Boston from New York on May 26, 1910.
Simon Nicholls:
Nicholls played 21 games with Philadelphia in 1909. In 1910, he appeared in just games with Cleveland. In addition, his name was mis-spelled on his (With Bat) card as “Nichols”. ALC probably didn’t need another reason to pull his card, but it probably made their decision easier.
Bob Rhoads:
Like Nicholls, Rhoads’ name was spelled wrong on his (Right Arm Extended) card. On the field, there was also reason to pull his card early. He went 5-9 with a 2.90 ERA in 1909, but did not appear in a single game in the Majors in 1910.
Frank Smith:
Smith was traded to the Boston Red Sox on August 11, 1910 along with Billy Purcell in exchange or Harry Lord an Amby McConnell.
*You might notice that Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory 30 is missing from the list above. This is because 350-460 Series poses were not printed with this back.
**I mention just five poses, because the Doyle N.Y. Nat’l error stands alone. If that error had never been corrected, we would just be talking about five poses.