Anyone collect contracts/have any to show off?
 

I think contracts are some of the coolest items in the hobby and checking back with the "search" function I didn't see any threads specifically focused on them.

Anyone else collect contracts or have contracts in their collection?

Here is one of mine:

A 1929 Brooklyn Royal Giants Negro League contract for Dick "Cannonball" Redding

Having trouble uploading the other images at the moment, but also have Puerto Rico League contracts of HOF Williard Brown and Pedro "Perucho" Cepeda.

Would love to what contracts are out there!

I have these 2 baseball card "contracts". Mickey Vernon has a Jan 31 1953 postmark and the Mickey Owen is dated March 5 1955.

I used to have a large collection of contracts. The best part of about them is, while they were valuable, a burglar would think they were just a pile of old papers sitting on a shelf.

1932 Brooklyn Dodgers Contract
 

One of my favorites. Single Page 1932 Brooklyn Dodgers Contract as part of the National League Uniform Baseball Contract.

Jeff

Johnny Vander Meer's two contracts from his historic 1938 season
 

I do own a few contracts, mostly related to Nolan Ryan and Johnny Vander Meer.

Here are Vandy's personal copies of the two contracts that he had during his historic 1938 season that he threw back to back no-hitters on 6/11/38 and 6/15/38. I acquired these separately over a decade of searching once I realized that there were two contracts out there.

Vandy started the 1938 season with a $500/ month contract since it was not known whether he would stay up with the team after struggling in his 1937 season. In late May, Reds upper management was convinced that Vandy would certainly "stick" in the majors. As a show of good faith, they tore up his monthly contract and game him an annual contract for $4,000.
Although these contracts seem laughable compared to today's player contracts, they were consistent with what 1st year players typically received during this era. Reds GM Warren Giles offered to manage Vandy's endorsement deals that came his way after his consecutive no-hitters. He reported to the press that Vandy made over $20K in 1938 including endorsement deals which was pretty solid for the Depression Era...

Note: At the end of 1938 Vandy received his 1939 Players contract and it bumped him up to $8,000 in '39. I own this contract as well.

The centerpiece of my women in baseball collection.

1898 contract between Lizzie Arlington (Stride) and the Atlantic League for Lizzie to play for different teams in the league. It is only documented that she played in one game, although Ed Barrow (who signed her to the contract and whose signature is also on the contract) recalled years later that she played in several games.

What we know for certain is that she pitched a scoreless inning and may have also played second base for The Reading Coal Heavers against the Allentown Peanuts. This made her the first, and to this date the only, woman to play in an affiliated minor league regular season game.

This is the contract that made it happen.



http://i792.photobucket.com/albums/y...pskmro9f85.jpg

Those are pretty awesome Scott. Didn't realize you had those.

Hi Chris,
I'm very proud to own them. They reside on the top shelf of my Vandy showcase that you have seen before. At some point in time, Vandy scribbled in pencil over the $500 amount on the initial 1938 contract. He must have been somewhat embarrassed about the small amount that the Reds were paying him. I guess he liked the sound of $4,000 much better.
I know I would. ;):D

Here's a contract for George Hendrick's 1985 season with the Pirates. Purchased it mainly for the Joe. L. Brown sig (which at the time was a bit harder to find than it is now)...come to think of it, Hendrick wasn't signing then either, so it just goes to show you that once hard to find autos can become easy and visa versa.

Mantle and Spahn Hartland Contracts
 

Hi Gang:

A few of my Hartland contracts the players signed to be included in the Hartland set.

Fred

Here is a 1984 contract of Cal Ripken Jr.'s to appear on Sports Illustrated posters:

https://i.imgur.com/wKsdobQ.jpg

Tony Piet 1934 Draper-Maynard Baseball Glove Contract....allowing him to buy gloves at $1.00 each

https://www.qualitycards.com/pictures/piet.jpg

Great stuff, guys...
 

So enjoyable to see so many neat pieces. Here's Ken Boyer's contract for his MVP season. At one time I had the 1928 contracts for Mickey Cochrane and Jim Bottomley for their MVP seasons. There was a bubble in the market that made those contract worth enough to sell. They went for enough to fund some fun in my collection and more importantly to finally build the website I wanted to for a decade or more.

Just remembered, they're not contracts, but it's pretty cool contract negotiation between Stan Musial and Cards owner Sam Breadon. The letters are written right after Musial's rookie year and just before his MVP season. If you have too much time on your hands, check out the site by clicking here. Every HoFer has a page and there are a couple hundred or so other baseball people on the site too.

Thanks for sharing. This forum makes collecting almost seem sensible!

Almost forgot
 

I almost forgot another contract that was less than $20 that is the latest pick up. Here's George "Boomer" Scott's first pro contract that he signed as an 18-year old. I've included an image of his lifetime pass too. Here's the link to his page.

On the site there are a ton of other contracts. Some are player contracts, many are Topps contracts and there are other odd contracts like Willie Mays' rental car agreement. I feel embarrassed even admitting I'd want such a thing. Collecting sure is strange!

Anyway, hope everyone is loving life.

I promise this is my last one this morning...
 

As I post, more contracts come to mind. These are Gehrig-related in a way. I've put links to the players' pages if you want to see these pieces and more on the website.

Everett Scott held the consecutive games played more before Lou Gehrig surpassed it. Interestingly, Pee Wee Wanninger played a part in each streak. He was inserted at shortstop by Miller Huggins to end Scott's streak in May, 1925. Four weeks later, Gehrig pinch hit for Wanninger to start his own streak. Below is Wanninger's contract for that 1925 season - Wanninger's first in the big leagues. These kind of stories is what makes collecting so fun.

The other Wanninger contract is from 1924 and assigns him to the minors before he made his MLB debut.

The Eddie Collins signed contract regards Babe Dahlgren in Boston before he became a Yankee. Dahlgren or course was the man who started in place of Gehrig to end his streak.

For me, collecting autographs and memorabilia is fun, but it's the stories that make the pieces come to life. I try to have an uncommon and interesting piece on each guy.

Thanks for "listening" and indulging. I hope everyone is doing well.

Wow, Jim, wow. Amazing stuff.

Thanks, Dewey. Part of what draws me to collecting is the interaction. I sure like this forum.

Just got this carbon copy of the baseball agent contract of Willie Mays with agent Frank Scott. I also picked up the one for Al Kaline.:)

Attachment 334534

Attachment 334535

I was going through some of my Dad’s collection and I remember him picking this up in an action in the mid seventies. If my memory serves me correct in the early days of the National they would have an auction on Friday or Saturday after the show would close for the day. Unfortunately my Dad passed away on Tuesday. He was a big Kaline guy and I started Autograped Kaline thread earlier in the year. I wanted to get it slabbed for him so he could see it.

ABA Basketball Contract
 

Does anyone have an ABA Basketball contract?

So sorry to hear about your father’s passing. Very cool stuff though.

I've picked up a couple of Topps baseball card contracts for my hometown collection. Here are early career contracts for Chris Speier and Jimmy Rollins.

Here's a 1951 Topps Ringside contract from the vault. For boxing HOFer Ruby Goldstein:

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...20Contract.jpg

1951
 

In 1951, I believe the league changed the name and dropped the "ALL"--- so here they just used a previous blank contract and crossed out the word.