As the greatest hitter in baseball history, Ty Cobb’s fame long outlasted his playing days. This calendar is a perfect example of Cobb’s enduring legend as one of the elites of the game. Produced in 1953, this advertising calendar depicts Ty Cobb in his Detroit Tigers finery enthusiastically showing a young Little Leaguer how to successfully slide into a base. Cobb and the young ballplayer are joined by various newspaper headlines and ephemera covering Cobb’s Hall of Fame career. What makes this piece more appealing than most surviving examples is the lack of overprinted advertising copy that is often found below the sliding boy. The lack of this advertising lets the viewer fully appreciate the painting of Cobb and his little friend. The calendar pages are affixed with two staples to the lower part of the piece with a January 1953 page on top. What makes this attractive advertising calendar all the more appealing is the presence of Ty Cobb’s signature just below the sliding boy – the only known signed example of this piece! The Hall of Famer has signed in his trademark green fountain pen, “To Dr. Rankin from his friend Ty Cobb 2/9/53.” Dr. Fred W. Rankin was a brigadier general and chief surgical consultant with the U.S. Army during World War II and later was president of the American Medical Association and the American College of Surgeons. The native of Lexington, Kentucky, also was a board member of the Ty Cobb Educational Foundation in 1953-1954.This original unrestored 13 ¼ x 23” prototype calendar was obviously never hung and only shows shows traces of very minor edgewear and light chipping along the bottom. Nothing mars the strong Ty Cobb signature or the vivid graphic image of Ty Cobb with the boy sliding “safe” under Cobb’s watchful eyes. Attractively matted and framed, this one-of-a-kind advertising calendar is one of the finest looking Ty Cobb signed pieces in the hobby. Cobb collectibles have been bringing extraordinary prices of late with his 1909-11 T206 Green Portrait PSA 8 valued at over $350,000 and a signed copy of his 1912 T202 recently selling for $300,000. This advertising piece is truly a one of a kind collectible and deserves to be in elite company with other Cobb items in the market. Accompanied by a full LOA from Beckett for the autograph (Cert. #: AB63940). To read an article about this collection from Sports Collectors Daily, click here.