The Original Artwork Behind Gil McDougald’s 1952 Bowman Rookie Card

Here’s another piece for the Original Artwork Archive: the original hand-painted artwork used for Gil McDougald’s 1952 Bowman #33 rookie card.

I found it in Mastro’s December 2002 auction catalog, where it was offered alongside an example of the finished card. Mastro described the one-of-a-kind artwork as measuring 4-1/16” x 6-1/8”, appreciably larger than the issued card, with working pencil marks and adhesive preparation scars on the reverse.

And here’s a closer look at the artwork next to the finished card.

Bowman didn’t change much on the way to the finished product. The most obvious addition is McDougald’s facsimile signature across the bottom.

For that comparison, I used a crop from one of just nine PSA 9 examples. That particular card sold for $1,470 in October 2022. You can ⁠check out other 1952 Bowman Gil McDougald cards on eBay.

And those nine PSA 9s remain the top of the PSA population. PSA has graded 637 examples of McDougald’s RC, with no 10s.

Another little piece of baseball card production history preserved in an old auction catalog and now in the Original Artwork Archive.

Happy collecting!