Gone But Not Forgotten

[Archive]

Posted By: Bruce Dorskind

Since 1976 when we first became serious collectors of rare baseball
memorabilia, we have dedicated about 10% of our collecting initiatives
to the acquisition of material from "dead leagues" Specifically, we have
focused on acquiring items from the Union Association, Players League
and Federal League.

We have only been able to acquire two Union Association pieces- both
from St. Louis - including a program.

We wonder if anyone has any Union Association memorabilia - we are particularly
interested in determining whether or not a program from Altoona exists.

For those interested to know, we have three Players League programs,
two team cabinets and host of tickets - we have nearly 40 items from
the Federal League including pennants, scorecards, team and player letters
contracts, dozens of high grade baseball cards and official League Documents.

All this said, we expect someday to have a "Dead League Exhibit" at a NYC
museum, and hope we can obtain, or at least learn about the possible
existence of any memorabilia from the short-lived Union Association

Thank you in advance


Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want List

[Archive]

Posted By: David Atkatz

"For those interested to know, we have three Players League programs,
two team cabinets and host of tickets - we have nearly 40 items from
the Federal League including pennants, scorecards, team and player letters
contracts, dozens of high grade baseball cards and official League Documents."

Have you, indeed?

Think you could share a bit of that with us all? (Or have your lawyers advised against it?)

Bruces, have you ever posted a thread that didn't

a) Ask for pictures or information.

b) Brag on some "ultra rare" material ya'all own, while

c) sharing nothing, or

d) All of the above.

[Archive]

Posted By: Alan Elefson

Hi-
While not rare, below is a scan of a program I own from the Eastern League showing the Bridgeports versus the Newarks in 1885. From a quick Wikipedia scan, it looks like the Eastern League folded and is not the same league with the same name today (although I assume it was still considered a "minor league"). I would love to see scans of any memorabilia from any of the more "major leagues" that Bruce mentioned
Alan Elefson
aelefson@hotmail.com

[Archive]

Posted By: Rhys

I have about 13 handwritten letters that cross over both leagues. The player who wrote the letters is Ed Fusselbach, the best catcher for the 1884 Union Association, and the letters were written in late 1889 to another player discussing the hazards of deciding which league to join for the 1890 season. The content is amazing and his signature was unknown in the hobby before these were found. I think I have a scan of one of the letters on my website. www.prewarsports.com. There are also other players league related pieces of memorabilia (handwritten letters) in this collection as well including a long letter from another lawyer discussing Johnnie Ward and the Brotherhood dated December 1889. That is somewhere on my website as well under the "Bob Allen Collection"

Rhys Yeakley