Card Statistics
Helmar’s T3 series continues with Claude Rossman, shown in the uniform of the Detroit Tigers in a relaxed fielding pose. Rossman stands with glove lowered at his side and one arm extended, his body turned slightly as though responding to a play elsewhere on the diamond. The pale uniform, dark stockings, and striped cap are set against a broad green outfield and an expansive cloud-filled sky, giving the card a particularly open, pastoral quality. The uncluttered composition suits the oversized T3 format, allowing the player to occupy the scene with the quiet authority associated with early tobacco-era baseball portraiture.
The original artwork was painted by Natalia Valiukavich in watercolor. Her transparent washes are especially effective in the light uniform, where cream, gray, and pale blue tones create folds and volume without losing the brightness of the cloth. Warmer color is concentrated in Rossman’s face and glove, while the outfield and distant trees are handled more broadly. The layered blue-gray clouds provide unusual atmosphere for a baseball-card background and help distinguish the image from the more formal ballpark settings elsewhere in the series.
Claude Rossman was a strong Deadball Era first baseman whose best major-league seasons came with Cleveland and Detroit. After batting .308 for Cleveland in 1906, he joined the Tigers and became the regular first baseman on Detroit’s American League pennant winners of 1907 and 1908. Playing alongside Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford, Rossman contributed 69 runs batted in during his first Detroit season and appeared in every game of the 1907 World Series, batting .450 in the series. He finished his five-year major-league career with a .283 batting average and 523 hits. (Baseball Reference)
Numbered #10, the Rossman card begins to deepen the Detroit representation within the T3 checklist. Rather than another universally familiar superstar, it gives Tigers collectors an important supporting member of the club’s first pennant-winning teams—exactly the sort of player who makes a team grouping feel complete rather than simply a collection of famous names.
Produced in Helmar’s distinctive handcrafted tradition, the card combines original watercolor artwork, an important member of Detroit’s early championship-era clubs, and a deliberately vintage presentation inspired by the grand-format baseball cards of the tobacco era.
Original watercolor artwork by Natalia Valiukavich.
- Description: Tossing follow through
- Team: Detroit Tigers
- Population (# Sold): 20
- First Date Sold: 2019-11-19
- Latest Date Sold: 2025-03-12
- Card Status: Retired
- # Sold in past year: N/A
- Highest Auction: $ 42.00
- Average Auction Result: $ 16.50
Popularity Rankings
Visit these teammates on the Detroit Tigers in the T3-Helmar series
Click the Card # link to go to Card Info, Click the Player Name link to go the the Player Biography
- # 11, George Mullin
- # 28, Sam CRAWFORD (HOF)
- # 32, Hughie JENNINGS (HOF)
- # 39, Ty COBB (HOF)
- # 49, Goose GOSLIN (HOF)
- # 60, Harry HEILMANN (HOF)
- # 75, Tommy Bridges
- # 85, Bill Donovan
- # 88, Hank GREENBERG (HOF)
- # 107, Donie Bush
- # 126, George Moriarty
- # 131, "General" Al Crowder
- # 132, Jim Delahanty
- # 139, Lynwood "Schoolboy" Rowe
- # 146, Charlie GEHRINGER
- # 161, Hal NEWHOUSER (HOF)
- # 225, Marv Owen
- # 226, Billy Rogell
- # 228, Gee Walker
- # 232, Rudy York
