April 5, 2018: Sports & Americana Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/5/2018
Thanks to a 1946 campaign that featured a young Jackie Robinson en route to breaking baseball’s infamous color barrier the following year, the Montreal Royals minor-league franchise boasted a major-league profile as the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in the International League. This remarkable complete set features the 24 cards that constituted the Royals’ full contingent as part of the 64-card Canadian issue by the famed Exhibit Supply Co. of Chicago. The 3 ¼-by-5 ¼-inch cards feature a number of players who would eventually reach the parent franchise, at the time still in Brooklyn but by the end of 1953 nearing the end of its legendary tenure in the borough as the West Coast beckoned. That list is headlined by Hall of Fame managers Tommy Lasorda and Walt Alston, along with well-known Dodger names like Don Hoak, Sandy Amoros, Norm Larker, Ed Roebuck, Rocky Nelson, Bob Milliken and others who played outside the Dodgers’ system. The blue sepia-toned cards have blank backs on a grey stock; this sterling complete set is Ex-Mt to Nr-Mt, with the emphasis to the upper end of the scale. Numbered 33-56 and No. 61 Alston, this set boasts 14 cards designated Near-Mint – Nos. 33, 38, 41, 42 (2), 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 52, 55, 56 and 61 Alston – and the remainder Ex-Mt, including No. 50 Lasorda. As noted, the complete set is 24 cards; there is a duplicate of No. 42.
1953 Montreal Royals Exhibit Supply Co. Complete Set (25)
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