1911 T205 Gold Border Michael J. Doolan

When putting together my 1930-1939 Phillies Have List back in April, I wrote this:

A few months ago, I put together my 1883-1929 Phillies Have List.  A want list for these years was a bit ridiculous I thought, since I couldn't imagine (a) needing to refer to the list on a regular basis or (b) readers browsing through a want list and deciding to send me a few T206 Phillies cards. 

To date, I've been wrong about the (b) part of the statement as I have yet to have a reader send along a T206 Phillies card.  However, I can now say that I have had a reader (and fellow obsessive Phillies baseball card collector) send along a T205 Phillies card, which is pretty cool.

Amazingly enough, Matthew over at 14,000 Phillies decided he'd do his part to bulk up my 1883-1929 Phillies Have List.  I recently returned home from a miserable day at work to find a package from Matthew sitting in our pile of mail.  I immediately opened it, as he had e-mailed me that he'd be sending along a few Phillies autographed cards from recent years and a hard-to-find Ryan Howard card.

When I first saw the steady gaze of Mickey Doolan peering back at me, surrounded by a beautiful gold border, my initial thought was that I had picked up the wrong envelope.  My second thought was, "What a cool reprint card."  Finally, my third thought was, "Holy crap, Matthew just mailed me a 1911 T205 Gold Border card completely out of the blue."

Thank you for the awesome addition to my collection!

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Doolan, spelled "Doolin" on Baseball Reference but "Doolan" everywhere else I checked, played nine seasons with the Phillies from 1905 to 1913 as their primary shortstop.  He was known more for his glove than his bat, hitting just .236 in 1,302 games with the Phils.  He appeared in quite a few baseball card sets around the turn of the century, including the famous T206 set.  His only modern day card, other than reprints, is his card within the massive 1990 Dodgers Target set.