1971 O-Pee-Chee Bob Tolan #190 Cincinnati Reds

Description

1971 O-Pee-Chee Bob Tolan #190 Cincinnati Reds Some cards quietly document a season that never happened, and that bittersweet twist makes them unforgettable. Alex Collect offers this 1971 O-Pee-Chee Bob Tolan #190 Cincinnati Reds card, issued the very year a single misstep on a basketball court cost one of baseball's most electrifying players an entire prime season, and arguably changed the early history of the Big Red Machine. This is a Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, printed in Canada in smaller quantities than the Topps edition, with Tolan's playoff heroics described in both English and French above his bilingual batting record. The front is 1971 black border perfection, the dynamic left handed hitter coiled over the plate in his red helmet and road grey CHICAGO-free colours, with his facsimile autograph stretched across the frame. Tolan's talent was staggering. Acquired from the Cardinals in the 1968 trade for Vada Pinson, he blossomed into the prototype leadoff force, hitting .305 in 1969, then posting career bests across the board in 1970 with a .316 average and 57 stolen bases, powering Cincinnati to the National League pennant. The back of this very card tells the story Canadians read that summer, how Tolan single-handedly won Game 2 of the 1970 National League Championship Series, scoring all three Cincinnati runs in a 3 to 1 victory. Then came January 1971, a pickup basketball game, a torn Achilles tendon, and a lost season, meaning this card hit store shelves to chronicle a year in which its star never appeared. True to form, Tolan returned in 1972 to reclaim his job and drive in 82 runs, a comeback befitting a man who counted two-time Olympic sprint champion Eddie Tolan among his relatives. From the photographs, this is a genuinely attractive mid grade copy showing only light corner tip wear with minimal whitening, clean black borders with no significant edge chipping beyond a couple of pinpoints, centering that sits very close to even with the slightest lean, rich colour and gloss on the batting pose, no creases, wrinkles, stains or writing front or back, and a bright bilingual back with crisp, legible print in both languages. We nonetheless grade conservatively at EX 5, holding the line against light corner touches, because disciplined grading protects both buyer and seller. For Reds collectors, speed collectors and Big Red Machine historians, a clean Canadian parallel of one of the era's most gifted and most poignant figures is outstanding value at this level. Grade Estimate: EX 5