1971 O-Pee-Chee Jim Colborn #38 Chicago Cubs

Description

1971 O-Pee-Chee Jim Colborn #38 Chicago Cubs Before he won 20 games in a season, before he carved his name into no-hitter history, Jim Colborn was a college educated right hander from little Whittier College trying to stick in a crowded Cubs rotation, and this card captures him at exactly that moment. Alex Collect is pleased to offer this 1971 O-Pee-Chee Jim Colborn #38 Chicago Cubs card, a low number from the Canadian bilingual issue, offered raw and ready for your vintage binder. As confirmed by the photographs, this is a Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, the scarcer northern counterpart to 1971 Topps, printed in Canada with Colborn's biography running in both English and French above the Fiche Comme Lanceur Dans Les Majeures pitching table. The black bordered front, with its bold CUBS title and Colborn's easy smile in his road cap, is the same design that made 1971 one of the most visually striking sets Topps ever conceived, and one of the most condition sensitive. Colborn's story rewards patience, which makes his early Cubs cards so satisfying to own. He was a Pacific Coast League playoff hero for Tacoma in 1969, earning a late season call and winning his first major league start that July. Chicago's pitching depth squeezed him out, but in Milwaukee he became an overnight ace, winning 20 games for the Brewers in 1973, the first 20 win season in that franchise's young history, and earning an American League All-Star selection. Then, on May 14, 1977 with Kansas City, he authored the ultimate pitching masterpiece, a 6 to 0 no-hitter against the Texas Rangers, forever etching a Whittier College graduate into the record books. He later became a respected pitching coach and one of baseball's genuine pioneers in Pacific Rim scouting, building bridges to Japanese baseball years before it was fashionable. The photos reveal a handsome mid grade copy with light corner wear, the lower left tip showing the most softness, a sprinkling of small white edge nicks along the left black border and modest chipping typical of the issue, centering that sits attractively near even, a clean action pose with no creases, wrinkles, stains or writing on either side, and a bright bilingual back with strong yellow colour and fully readable French and English print. We grade with restraint on 1971 black borders, so our estimate is EX 5, leaving real upside for the buyer. Low numbers from the 1971 Canadian set in clean raw condition are perennially undervalued, and a card that connects a 20 game winner and a no-hit artist to the Cubs' early 1970s core is a wonderfully affordable piece of pitching history. Grade Estimate: EX 5