Your most prized baseball related possession? This is mine...

[Clark7781]

Fellow Forumites:

I'm new here, but have enjoyed my time very much. Everyone has been very welcoming and helpful; thank you!

I have seen LOTS of great stuff here, and thought I would share with you my most prized baseball related possession. Here it is:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y283/Clark7781/May2009Photos084.jpg

This is the first game ball my then four and A HALF year old (for you parents out there, you KNOW how important that half year is!) son's first game ball that was given to him after an official Tee Ball game! (Most of you probably missed it, it was only boradcasted on mom and dad's TV.)

Anyway, this is what I am most proud of. I have a lot of autographed baseballs, but this is my most prized.

A proud dad just had to share!

His name is Ewan (you can't see the "N") and he sweet spotted this baby for me!

[cwazzy]

That's awesome! My son is 3 and a half and hasn't started t-ball yet. He has a little Cardinals baseball and bat set that we play with in the living room and he can knock the crap out of it! I can't wait to see him play for real. :)

I'm not sure I can narrow mine down to just one piece so I'm going to put up a couple:
1933 Kansas City Blues stock certificate signed by club secretary Tris Speaker and made out to Kansas City political figure Tom Pendergast
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p110/cwazzy/Misc/1933KCBluesStockCert.jpg
Limited edition Mickey Mantle signed '52 Topps photo
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p110/cwazzy/Misc/100_2007.jpg

[theantiquetiger]

The piece of outfield wall from the old Alex Box Stadium, where they placed the retired number of the retiring coach, Skip Bertman:

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r198/theantiquetiger/LSU/bertmansinghung.jpg

[Scott Garner]

It's pretty tough to narrow down a 38 year collection to one single item, but I would like to show you my two favorite pieces. Anyway, here goes:
1) A game used ball to Nolan Ryan's 4th career no-hitter on 6/1/75 at Anaheim. Ryan tied Sandy Koufax's alltime record of 4 no-hitters in this game. What makes this especially cool is the story and provenance behind the ball.

Frank Worth was a roving photographer in Southern California that frequently took photos for the California Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers. After Ryan had successfully no-hit the Baltimore Orioles 1-0, Worth was in the Angels home clubhouse to take some photos to commemorating the event. He suggested taking some photos of Ryan holding up 4 balls with zeros hand drawn on the balls with felt marker. His photo of Ryan holding up the 4 balls and smiling became a rather famous image. I have included a look at the photo to remind you what it looks like. My ball is the one in the upper left.

After the photo shoot Ryan signed this ball with a personalized inscription that reads: "To Frank Best Wishes Nolan Ryan". Worth added "6/1/75" next to huge zero. On a different panel Ryan wrote " Glad you were here for the 4th. Hope you are here for the 5th". Pretty prophetic on Ryan's part that he felt he would throw another one (5th no-hitter). To make this ball even more interesting is the fact that Ryan almost pulled off a Johnny Vander Meer in his very next game on 6/6/75 against the Milwaukee Brewers. HOF great and HR champ (no steroids) Hank Aaron busted up Ryan's no-hit effort in the 6th inning with Ryan settling for a 2-hit 6-0 shutout over the Brew Crew. Worth was also in attendance of this game and he had Hank Aaron sign another side panel and added the notation "6/6/75" afterwords. It's really a great piece of baseball history, and for a die-hard Angels fan I love owning this in my personal collection...

[3and2]

Scott,

What an awesome story. That is a really neat ball. Thanks for sharing.

[Scott Garner]

Here are some photos of my other favorite piece in my collection. This is Nolan Ryan's game used mitt from his 5,000th strikeout on 8/22/89. Mostly everyone that follows baseball knows that fellow HOF'er Rickey Henderson became Ryan's 5,000 K milestone. I believe that Ryan used this mitt for all of the 1989 season, where he led the American League with 301 strikeouts (his sixth and final time he struck out 300 in a season), and also was the winning pitcher in the '89 All-Star game in Anaheim. The mitt exhibits tremendous use and came directly from Nolan Ryan with 100% rock solid provenance. I have included a photo of an iconic photo of Ryan immediately after the 5,000th K, where he his tipping his hat to the crazed Texas croud of 42,800 fans. I am currently working on getting an original photo from the photographer.

[magic1313]

I am not a collector but I do play baseball myself and always love vintage baseball items. I came across these 2 pieces at a garage sale and bought them just because of how cool they looked. Later, I did research and found out that they have some value. Even if they turned out not to be valuable I would have still bought them just because of how cool they look.

[magic1313]

Sorry for the glare on the pics. Didn;t have a secondary light source. THe Frank Baker decal is almost 100% complete. One more pic

[MGHPro]

Those are some killer decals!! Thanks for posting!
Here's mine..
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r193/mghproductions/IMG_2554.jpg http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r193/mghproductions/IMG_2547.jpg http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r193/mghproductions/IMG_2547.jpg http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r193/mghproductions/IMG_2549.jpg

[MGHPro]

Scott
Those are some AMAZING Ryan items!
Matt

[perezfan]

Great posts by everyone....

Matt, the Cobb Bat is stunning, and Magic1313- those are the nicest decals I have ever seen. Both of those were absolutely "babied" for only about 100 years..... unheard of!

[magic1313]

Yeah, when the guy told me what decade he thought they were from I thought he was full of sh## because they looked new.

Turns out he was right.

[cardguru67]

Wow, great collections guys! My favorite is the Tris Speaker signed certificate. Nice!

[Scott Garner]

Scott
Those are some AMAZING Ryan items!
Matt

Anthony and Matt,
Thanks for the compliments! It was fun to be able to share them with everyone.
Good collecting,
Scott

[jpop43]

Kinda on the unconventional side, and not at all part of the "collection" so to speak, but here is an item that I hold pretty dear considering where it came from, where I went to get it, and as a memory of those who were with me...319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division...Iraq 2003.

[sayhey24]

Jonathan --

Love the ball and the photo -- thank you very much for your service!

Greg

[GrayGhost]

Awesome indeed Jonathan.

[sicollector1954]

Mine is a 1938-39 MEARS Grade 9 Jimmie Foxx gamer. It will probably be the next to the last item I ever sell. The last would have to be a 1947 negative which I found on the internet of a local team playing baseball and an up close of one of the players. It was my father.

[Forever Young]

Mine is a 1938-39 MEARS Grade 9 Jimmie Foxx gamer. It will probably be the next to the last item I ever sell. The last would have to be a 1947 negative which I found on the internet of a local team playing baseball and an up close of one of the players. It was my father.

Are you going to post your father's pic up here?

[GKreindler]

Agreed!!! I would LOVE to see that negative!

[sicollector1954]

Sure. Didn't think anyone would want to see it but here goes. This is the 8X10 photo once developed and last year before he passed away--he signed it for my daughter as a keepsake. I guess he was actually a pretty good player from what people have said. The leagues around here where I live formed an All-Star team once which he was a member and they once played the King and His Court in a game. The story goes he got a hit and reached first with a single. However, on the very next pitch--pitching from near second base--the "King" went behind the back to first instead of pitching to home and picked him off! Thanks.

[GKreindler]

A GREAT story, and a GREAT photo. The stuff that's personal and meaningful is absolutely the best.

I'm curious, how did you randomly come across the negative? Did you recognize your father immediately?

[sicollector1954]

A factory closed and all things were being discarded including negatives which were posted on Ebay in many lots including some baseball items. I noticed that the person who was the seller lived near me and knowing that my dad had played baseball for this factory team at one time--contacted the person...she allowed me to come to her home for a better look at the photos and I was able to find two that had him (or so I thought) in the negatives. I then bid and was the winner of both. Took and got them developed and yes it turned out they were. I now display them in the sports room along with my other vintage sports items. Thanks again for the kind words and here is the second photo.

[MGHPro]

Dave
That's an awesome story! and the Foxx bat isn't too shabby either!:D
Matt

[Mark]

<a href="http://s185.photobucket.com/albums/x318/corsairs25/?action=view&current=Felschhalf.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x318/corsairs25/Felschhalf.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I, too, really like this stuff. Amazing bats, guys. And I can appreciate what the photo must mean to you. If there is room for another item, here's mine: When I was a boy, not long after my grandfather died, I was helping my grandmother clean out her basement, and I found a few old bats. One was a Jack Fournier decal bat, one was a Black Betsey softball bat, and the third bat was completely covered with tar. After my grandmother said I could have the bats, I scraped some tar off the big bat and found the name "Felsch" on the barrel. I didn't know him at first, and I was initially disappointed to learn that he was an "outlaw." But I changed my mind when I read Eight Men Out. I wrote to the Hillerich and Bradsby company about the bat, and got a very encouraging letter in response. All this led me to start collecting prewar cards and, much later, some more old bats. So, the bat brings back a lot of good memories. But I think I like it the most because it used to belong to my grandfather, who was a pretty big baseball fan in his own right.

[thekingofclout]

In 1966, my Mom & Dad went to a convention in San Francisco (for Met Life, as my Dad was an agent for 40 years). Well, my Dad was a huge DiMaggio fan (goes without saying for any full-blooded Italian) despite being born and raised in Chicago.

In 1963 my family moved to So Cal, at which time I was five and just beginning to learn about baseball. So back to 1966. Just as the convention was winding down, my folks climbed into the Buick and began the trip back home. They were near the wharf so my Dad decided to stop for a cup of coffee at DiMaggio's so he could at least tell his friends he went there.

The restaurant was just getting ready to open as a worker told them it might be a bit until they were served. My father said, "we just want to get a cup of coffee before we make the long drive home." So they took a table and halfway through their coffee my Father spots who he believes is Joe DiMaggio and tells my Mom "there's Joe DiMaggio" to which my Mother replied "no, that's not him". My folks went back and forth a few times until a voice spoke to my surprised Mother "I sorry Ma'am but your Husband is right...I AM Joe DiMaggio!"

At that point, Dimag turns a chair around, straddles it and joins my folks for morning coffee. Well, needless to say, my Dad was like a little kid. As Mom would tell it, " I've never seen Tom (my dad) so happy...ever!"

After 20-30 minutes, Joe said he had some business to attend to, and as they were getting ready to leave my father asked Joe if he wouldn't mind signing some scrap of paper my mom had dug out of her purse for his three sons (my poor sis got left out) and the Clipper answered..."I'm sorry I can't sign that... but I'd be happy to sign THIS for you" at which point he pulled out a menu and signed it to my brothers and I.

14980

It sits on my desk to this day. Although some time in my teens, I though it would look better without the illustration of the restaurant on the wharf and took a scissors to it. :eek:

My mom eventually gave my cards away, but at least I ended up with the single most prized piece I'll ever own.

BTW... this signed menu was ALSO the reason my passion for baseball took on a life of its own...but I'll spare you the details, for now.

Sincerely, Jimmy

[3and2]

Great story Jimmy of your parents meeting Joe D. I love waking up in the morning and reading a cool story like that. The way you express the details of events you can just imagine your dad smiling from ear to ear on that special day!

[Leon]

Thanks to everyone who shared a story or artifact. Very nice indeed. And Jimmy, that is a really great story about Joe D and your parents, with their morning cup 'o coffee.

[Jay Wolt]

Jimmy great story, they don't make them like Joe D anymore

[John V]

Mark,
I'm loving your grandfather's Felsch bat.
I can imagine the encouraging words from Hillerich & Bradsby. Do you mind sharing the details?

[thekingofclout]

Thank you all for the kind words. It pleases me so that you really enjoyed the story.

I had to have heard my parents retell it over and over and over all through my childhood and I never once got tired of hearing it.

So you now see why, Joe D holds a special place in my heart even though I never saw him play, nor met him at an autograph show. I had my chances mind you, but decided to keep my childhood memories intact and undisturbed.

Sincerely, Jimmy

[Mark]

Mark,
I'm loving your grandfather's Felsch bat.
I can imagine the encouraging words from Hillerich & Bradsby. Do you mind sharing the details?

This took place in 1970. I remember describing the bat meticulously, detailing everything inside the label very carefully and noting that in place of a signature on the barrel was Felsch’s last name, printed in all capital letters. Jack McGrath wrote back asking me to double check whether the company name was “J.F. Hillerich and Sons” or “Hillerich and Bradsby Company,” because that would date the bat to either before or after 1916. He concluded “I strongly surmise that the bat you have was ordered for the personal use of Hap Felsch, and therefore he no doubt used it.” I recognize that last statement might be questioned by skeptics, but it’s still good enough for me.

[ValKehl]

when I was a kid and Dad would take me to Griffith Stadium was Pete Runnels, who hit a pinch hit home run in this 1962 All Star Game at Wrigley Field. Did Pete hit it with this bat? I have no idea, but I like to think so!!