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Rare Cobb cards found in bag

 
Seven of these Ty Cobb baseball cards were found in a crumpled paper bag in a dilapidated house.
Seven of these Ty Cobb baseball cards were found in a crumpled paper bag in a dilapidated house.
Published March 4, 2016

LOS ANGELES — From a crumpled paper bag in a dilapidated house came a baseball card find of a lifetime. Seven of them actually.

Card experts in Southern California have verified the legitimacy — and a total value of possibly more than $1 million— of seven identical Ty Cobb cards from the printing period of 1909 to 1911. Before the find, about 15 were known to still exist.

Joe Orlando, the president of Professional Sports Authenticator in Newport Beach, Calif., who verified the find, said it is "spectacular" and "miraculous" to have come across such a cache.

"I am not sure if any other baseball card find is more remarkable than this new discovery," Orlando said.

The anonymous family discovered the cards at the rundown house of a deceased great-grandfather.

The cards with the famed Detroit Tigers player come from a lot known as T206, the group most prized by collectors that also includes the Honus Wagner card, arguably the most famous sports card ever.

They say on the back "TY COBB — KING OF THE SMOKING TOBACCO WORLD" in green ink.

Diamondbacks: The highly anticipated debut of Zack Greinke is set for today in Scottsdale, Ariz. against an Athleticis split squad. Greinke is to pitch two innings. "The game doesn't even matter. There's going to be nerves. But he's a pro and he knows how to handle it and he'll get his work in," manager Chip Hale said. Meanwhile, in Thursday's 6-5 loss to the Rockies, new Arizona reliever Tyler Clippard, from Mitchell High, gave up a solo home run to Carlos Gonzalez.

INDIANS: Joey Butler, a waiver pickup from the Rays, singled off J.J. Hoover, the favorite to replace Aroldis Chapman as the Reds' closer, and scored in Cleveland's 9-1 loss.

ORIOLES: Reliever Brian Matusz is out indefinitely with a lower-back injury.

ROYALS: Poised to earn a starting job for the first time in his career, rightfielder Jarrod Dyson is likely to miss close to six weeks because of a right oblique strain.

TIGERS: Centerfielder Cameron Maybin will miss 4-6 weeks with a non-displaced hairline fracture of the left wrist. He was hit by a pitch thrown by the Yankees' Luis Severino on Wednesday.