Kiki Cuyler "Cinches" 1932 NL Pennant + WS Ticket/Snapshots
 

I want to share this cool 1931-32 lot related to HOFer Kiki Cuyler that I acquired last month. The seller’s grandfather was one of Cuyler’s friends from Michigan. If anyone has Cuyler memorabilia or anecdotes they want to share, I would love to see them!

Telegram - Dated September 19, 1932. Kiki, a northern Michigan native, sent this telegram in Chicago around noon to his friend (I obscured the name out of privacy) working at Union Carbide Co. in Sault Ste Marie, MI to indicate he could secure two 1932 WS tickets as soon as the Cubs "cinch" the pennant. For "thirty three dollars", at $5.50 a piece, I assume this was for the purchase of two tickets to Games 3, 4, and 5 in Chicago.

As history tells us, Monday, September 19 was the first off day for the Cubs in 2 weeks. They played 18 games over the previous 14 days on the road between Cincinnati, Boston, Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia and back to Cincinnati before arriving in Chicago to face the Pittsburgh Pirates in a doubleheader on Tuesday. With 6 games to go (Pittsburgh had 8), the Cubs were 6 games ahead of the Pirates in the standings, so a trip to the World Series to face the mighty Yankees was very likely. As it turned out, Cuyler himself "cinched" the pennant for the Cubs the NEXT DAY with a bases clearing triple to win 5-2 in the first game of the doubleheader.

Attachment 328775

1932 Game 4 WS Ticket - Not in amazing condition but the provenance behind it is neat. I'm assuming this ticket was one that was used by Cuyler’s friend who received the telegram. Even though the Yankees swept the series and Game 5 was null, the friend would have witnessed Babe’s supposed called shot in Game 3 and with this ticket, Ruth's last WS game and hit. Kiki himself was no slouch in front of his friend in Game 3, hitting 3-4 with a double, HR and 2 RBI, but went 0-5 in Game 4.

Attachment 328779Attachment 328780

1931 Scorecard - From an early June 1931 series vs. the Brooklyn Robins. Unscored, but Kiki hit two home runs in the series, including a walk off HR off Pea Ridge Day. Not in great condition but as a program collector who didn’t have a Cubs scorecard from this year, I'll happily take it. I would assume the friend obtained this on a previous visit to Wrigley to see Kiki.

Attachment 328778

Snapshots - I’m not a Kodak/photography expert so I’m not sure when these were actually developed, but the back states “A Kodak Paper” which may indicate they were printed in the 1960s, possibly developed off an old roll from 1932. The subject matter is nonetheless cool. One is a great shot of Cuyler standing against the Wrigley left field wall pre-ivy, and one with his friend and their guest, showing Wrigley centerfield. You can barely make out the Doublemint Elves on top of the scoreboard in the background. I would assume these were originally taken sometime around the 1932 World Series.

Attachment 328776

1936 National Chicle R313 Fine Pen - This didn't come in the lot and I'm not much of a vintage card collector, but this image of Kiki and Gabby Harnett cracks me up and was cheap so I picked it up. The awkward bat placement has to be intentional right?

Attachment 328781