On March 29, I spent an hour and a half trying to file an online claim. After many error messages (even after talking to "technical support"), I gave up and talked to someone to get a paper claim form mailed to me. Having not received it for nine days, I called again yesterday. They had a record of my request but, lo and behold, they never sent the form. WTF? Are they trying to run out the clock on me? :mad:

You're going to have to foul them Rob. :)

Anyone seen he latest REA auction that just opened for bidding?

some AMAZING pennants in there. Well outside of my price range but...just...WOW

https://bid.robertedwardauctions.com...searchin=title


G@ry G01db3rg

As a general rule, the less we have to deal with the government, the better life is. Filing a USPS claim is certainly no exception.

With regard to REA, I would love to know what the full spine looks like on that oversized Red Sox pennant with the “Boston mini” attached. I know the bottom tassels are probably missing, but wonder if the spine is all there.

It would be quite an expensive proposition to win it, separate the two, and potentially be disappointed at what lies underneath. Sure wish REA could un-frame it and provide some more revealing photos!

Now here’s a pennant mystery for our pal Kyle.

You might have seen before the late 40s/early 50s Tigers “Johnny Groth” pennant. Why Johnny Groth? He seemed like an okay player - he played OF - but only 5.8 career WAR, just an ordinary regular. No such pennant for George Kell, Vic Wertz or another half dozen better players. Odd.

Well Marc tipped me off to this weird 1960 Pirates pennant on eBay. Not a full team scroll but just the lineup … who is playing shortstop? “Groth”.

Now wait a minute. The SS was Dick Groat, not Groth. Johnny had finished his career as a reserve earlier that year … for Detroit. Never played for Pittsburgh.

So what is it about Johnny Groth? Well one thing is very clear: these are both WGN pennants. Same style and the font used for player names is a giveaway.

Pulling up Johnny Groth’s SABR bio, you learn he was born and raised in Chicago, and his father was an electrotype salesman. So … looks like hometown boy got some extra love!

Johnny passed away last August at age 95 … had 28 grandchildren …

Also, who the heck is playing second? Two M’s in Mazeroski???

What a funky cool pennant. Never even noticed that it was Groth and not Groat.

What's the deal on that? Was it a thing to stitch pennants together at weird angles in the early 20th century? And then frame it like that?

Hmmm, never seen this Tigers pennant with the Groth variation. Really weird. I wonder if maybe they added his name, after-the-fact, as part of ... a promotion he may have appeared at?? I dunno. That's really weird.

Maybe he was a fan favorite, and the Tigers hosted a "Johnny Groth Day," and they made a limited run of these for the occasion?

As to the 1960 one, that's an even weirder pennant. Ugly, too. I'm not sure it's by WGN ... other than the name "GROTH" it looks unlike other known WGN baseball pennants post-1958, many of which (but not all) were polychromatic and featured their Day-Glo paint scheme.

What's the significance of, "Law Friend Face"??

Pitchers: Vern Law, Bob Friend, Roy Face

Possible source/day for the Detroit pennant:

https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/apri...marching-home/