Thank you!

[Archive]

Posted By: <b>DR</b><p>Thank you David and Jodi for the information. <br /><br />The ball has been sold!

[Archive]

Posted By: <b>davidcycleback</b><p>Different reasons why players from different years can appear.<br /><br />If it is signed in the pre-season there can be a flux of players-- player on pre-season didn't make the team that year, traded, etc. I have some Babe Herman Detroit Tigers memorabilia from his estate-- Babe never played regular season for the team, but was on a spring training team as a Pre-rookie. Looking at the items, a lot of people would say "But Babe Herman wasn't a Tiger." However, if you look it up, Herman was briefly a Tiger. He won't appear on any regular season roster, as he was sent back to the minors during spring training and later made it to the bigs as a Brooklyn Dodger.<br /><br />A collector might not have gotten all the signatures at once. Perhaps he got the team ball signed in 1930 then added a few later at a later game. In modern times, including today, collectors often bring a ball around with them to parks and shows adding signatures.<br /><br />Former players occasionally sign, perhaps because the were retired players working for the team (George Burns was a former Giants player). At a game, a former player may be on the other team now. He may sign a Yankee team ball upon fan's request, for example, even though he was no longer playing for them. At a Brewers V Twins game in Milwaukee, a Brewers' fan may have asked Paul Molitor to sign a Brewers ball, even though Molitor was now plaing for the Twins. Whatever uniform Paul was wearing, if you have a chance to add Molitor to a Brewers team ball, a Brewers fan would do it. A few years later, someone looking at the 1994 Brewers team ball would say, "But Molitor wasn't a Twin that year." <br /><br />Realize that many old multi-signed programs and such were signed at a game, where players from two teams were mulling around. It's always possible for a Cubs spring training signed program to have a few White Sox sigs mixed in. And retired Rick Sutcliffe may be there as an announcer, retired Robin Yount there as a PR guy for the Cactus League. If a fan sees Hall of Famer Yount in suit and tie, he'll ask him to sign the Cubs program.<br /><br />So it is possible to have an odd man out signature on a theme ball, and is in particular not uncommon for a former player working for the team to sign a ball.<br /><br />Speaking of of Babe Herman, I had a bunch of his minor league team signed ball purchased directly from the estate-- teams he played for. The balls would occasionally have an odd man out signature. Probably a few were former players or opposing players at the game or working for the league. Herman was an outgoing, gregarious guy, and I'm sure he was happy to have 'outsiders' sign his personal memento. As the seller was Herman's daughter, provenance was not an issue. I know Herman had a small gamer hat collection, both from teammates and opposing players, showing he collected mementos from players all around him. I bought a 1930s pro model Portland PCL cap. Herman played in the PCL in the 1930s, but not for Portland, so presumably he got it from an opposing player. He also had a very rare 1930s game used cap from his Reds teammate Stan Covaleski. Another interesting thing is as a very young player Herman collected autograph photos of his teammates! I had a bunch of signed original amateur quality snapshots signed by his spring training Detroit Tigers teammates. Herman obtained the signatures himself during spring training! Reasonable to guess that he shot the photos too.

[Archive]

Posted By: <b>Jodi Birkholm</b><p>"Tom Sharke" is Tommy Clarke, a Giants coach at that time.<br /><br />"John Bealy" is John Berly, a player.<br /><br />George Burns was a longtime player.<br /><br />Nice ball.

[Archive]

Posted By: <b>Max Weder</b><p>David<br /><br />I don't want to provoke what must surely be a record approaching 13th edit by you, but Babe Herman did play for the Detroit Tigers in 1937 in the regular season<br /><br /><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hermaba01.shtml" target="_new" rel="nofollow">http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hermaba01.shtml</a><br /><br />

[Archive]

Posted By: <b>davidcycleback</b><p>I kept on remembering all the stuff Babe had-- hats, then photos, etc. He was a Tigers spring trainer in the early 1920s when Cobb was the manager/player.