My Longest Hobby Project has taken 62 years and I am still not finished. Don Larsen's 1956 World Series Perfect Game 5 occurred in October of 1956. As a single digit kid (9 y/o), I began to collect autographs in March of 1957.
The Philadelphia Phillies spring training games were played in Jack Russell Stadium about half a mile from my elementary school. With bike, book and ballpoint pen I would go to the stadium after school. That spring I accumulated roughly 120 autographs of major league players and prospects. Both the Dodgers and the Yankees played a game in Clearwater that spring. Some of the autographs are a little shaky and they are not well spaced, but they are authentic.
Gil McDougald is clearly not a ten, but it is better than Ralph Terry below it, and
Sal Maglie's work encountered a near fatal foreign substance.
Over 30 years later in California I was in a card shop when a fellow walked in with a ticket stub that he sold to the owner for $30. Always up for a quick flip the owner sold it to me for $50 before the door to the shop was closed from the previous owner leaving.
The ticket was not signed when I bought it, but finding Larsen at the National in Anaheim was not too difficult and later Berra was obtained through the mail.
Over 40 years later I visited my parents at their condo in Pinellas County. My mother clearly remembered tossing my card collection during a move, but the condo had a storage locker and they weren't getting younger. I got the key and went down to explore the locker. The contents smelled a bit and consisted largely of uninteresting items, hardly worthy of being saved. My 56 Topps cards were gone along with the others from the late 50s, but just before quitting the search in the last box, lo and behold, my Autograph Book appeared. It was worth the effort.
Particularly when I started to flip through the pages
The Dodgers were not the friendliest team after the spring training game (they must have lost to the Phillies), but my autograph book ended up on their team bus for so long I thought the bus would leave with it, when they left for Vero Beach. The book was returned though just before they pulled out. This was in the spring of 57, less than 12 months before the tragic accident involving Campanella.
Mickey Mantle didn't make the trip to Clearwater with the Yankees, who often played two games in a day with an A team and a B team, but I did recognize this fellow when he left the clubhouse.
Only recently did I spring for a Mantle autographed book.
It occurred to me then that combining the ticket, the boxscore & the autographs would make an interesting project,
The Perfect Game Ticket and Autograph Collection, but how many did I need.
Nine Yankees and Casey made 10 in the perfect game and I now have 9, lacking only Billy Martin.
I'm not as close on the Dodger side, having only Furillo & Snider in addition to Sal, Roy and Walt.
Gilliam is on the way to make 6. The dodgers 27th out was a pinch hitter, so 11 Dodgers would be needed.
To complete the project I would still need Amoros, Reese, Hodges, Robinson & Dale Mitchell the PH, in addition to Martin.
I haven't shown all that i have, but as I acquire the last 6, I will utimately post the rest. I don't have 62 more years to finish, so I better pick up the pace.
