#86 - William R. "Sliding Billy" Hamilton, Philadelphia Phillies

From 1976 to 1978, five Seattle-area Shakey's Pizza restaurants underwrote the production and redemption of a large 150+ card set which pictured (to that date) every member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Originally, 2,000 prints of each card were produced but due to an accounting error (as well as normal attrition) it is estimated that fewer than 1,500 of each survive today.

Each card features a red, white and blue color scheme (front side) with black and white photograph. (Photographs were provided by Chicago area photo seller Jim Rowe and contain a number of great images originally shot by Burke, Brace and others.)

The backs are in red and black on white, feature indepth word snapshots, and the cards are approximately standard 2-1/2" by 3-1/2" size. In an unusual move, the cards were issued skip-numbered in four series: Baseball's Hall of Fame (series 1), Baseball's Greatest Players (series 2), Baseball's Immortals (series 3), and Baseball's All-Time Greats (series 4). The cards are numbered in order of induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame (i.e. Ty Cobb #1, Babe Ruth #2, etc.).

These scarce regional cards fit perfectly within the collections of team and type card collectors.

Condition: Near-Mint

ANY NUMBER of single cards (up to and including 8X10 inches in size) will ship for the one single card USPS Ground Advantage cost IF the buyer will request and wait for a combined invoice before paying. eBay Standard Envelope is also an option for qualifying orders. Questions? Email us.