1971 O-Pee-Chee Joe Decker #98 Chicago Cubs

Description

1971 O-Pee-Chee Joe Decker #98 Chicago Cubs The 1969 Chicago Cubs remain one of the most beloved and most heartbreaking teams ever assembled, and this Canadian cardboard lets you own an arm straight from that storied pitching staff. Alex Collect proudly presents this 1971 O-Pee-Chee Joe Decker #98 Chicago Cubs card, a scarcer bilingual Canadian parallel of the classic black border design, preserved from an original vintage sheet. Collectors who flip this card over will find everything that makes the 1971 Canadian issue special. This is a Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, with Joe Decker's biography told in both English and French, the pitching line headed Fiche Comme Lanceur Dans Les Majeures, and the Printed In Canada marking that confirms its London, Ontario origin and its considerably smaller print run next to the American Topps release. The front shows Decker in his road Cubs flannels with that big over the top delivery, framed by the 1971 design's famously fragile black borders. Decker was one of the most hyped power arms in the Cub organization at the turn of the decade, a California raised right hander who came up through American Legion ball and carved through the minor leagues with a fastball and a big breaking curve. He reached Chicago during that magical and ultimately tragic 1969 season, pitching behind Fergie Jenkins and Ken Holtzman on a staff that carried the club into first place for most of the summer, and he remained part of the Wrigley Field mix into the early 1970s. After the 1972 campaign the Cubs packaged him with veteran Bill Hands in the trade that sent him to Minnesota for reliever Dave LaRoche, and it was with the Twins that Decker finally delivered on his promise, winning a career best 16 games in 1974 as a durable major league starter. Reviewing the photos closely, this copy shows light to moderate corner tip wear with mild whitening, the heaviest touch at one lower corner, a few tiny flecks of white edge chipping along the black lower and right borders that this black bordered issue reveals so easily, centering that sits pleasingly close to even with a slight lean, clean surfaces with no creases, wrinkles, gum stains or writing front or back, and a vivid yellow bilingual back whose small English and French type remains crisp throughout. Because mid grade 1971 black borders so often hide problems, we stay disciplined and call this one EX 5, a conservative estimate that should grade or resell with confidence. Scarce Canadian commons from this condition sensitive set are getting harder to locate in clean raw form, and this is exactly the kind of sharp, affordable example team set builders chase. Grade Estimate: EX 5