February pickups
 

Thanks to Paul G. (ShoelessMoe on net54) I just was able to add this beautiful game used ball to Denny McLain's 31st win in 1968. which is fresh to the hobby.

The inscriptions on the ball IMHO really take it to the next level.
They are all in the hand of a famous gentleman in the Detroit area named Morris (Morrie) Moorawnick who passed away in 2010. He was known for his precise and small printing as is demonstrated on his notations on this ball.

Morrie Moorawnick was a celebrated statistician and scorekeeper for the Detroit Pistons and Red Wings and was the close friend of many professional athletes including Gordy Howe and Willie Horton. He was honored in 2009 at Comerica Park by the Ilitch Family for his contributions to amateur sports and excellence of sportsmanship.

This game is historic on multiple levels:

Denny McLain's amazing 31st win marked the last win in McLain's great 1968 campaign where he went 31-6, winning the Cy Young and MVP awards and leading the Detroit Tigers to becoming the '68 World Series Champions.

Accomplishing this, McLain became the 1st pitcher in 34 years to win 30 games in a single season. McLain would also be the last because it has now been 52 years since this occurred and with specialized pitching, 100 pitch counts and 4-5 man rotations it will never happen again..
Dizzy Dean was previously the last to win 30+ games in 1934.

In this game, Denny also famously grooved HOF Mickey Mantle's 535th (second to last) career HR.

About 5 years ago I had Denny McLain sign and inscribe my Grandparent's license plate from 1968. It was a tribute to the Summer of 1968 that I spent in MI watching the Tigers run to the pennant and eventual World Series Championship. I was fortunate to have caught one of Denny's 31 wins in person at the now defunct Tiger Stadium.
Great memories! :):cool:

Great pick up Scott!!! Wow

A couple items I picked up from the local “David Pressman Estate” auction last weekend. Pressman was a lifelong friend of Ted Williams after giving him batting tips as a 14 year old in 1948 and the auction overwhelmingly had hundreds of Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and other Red Sox signed photos and items.

Pair of cleats attributed to and signed by Carl Yastrzemski. The Wilson “Riteweight” brand seemed to be popular in the late 50s/early 60s so they would have been from his early career. These definitely have good overall wear consistent with proper use and seem to be Yaz’s size 11, though finding proof in B&W photos would be nearly impossible. There were two other pairs of later model cleats that matched photos of what Yaz wore in the 1970s that I missed out on so I’m fairly confident Yaz wore them at some point.

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Rare 1969-1972 pitcher’s bat. Marty Pattin pitched for the Red Sox in 1972 & 1973 and hit 2 HRs in 1972, but never batted again with the introduction of the DH in 1973. Bat shows great use and looks like a ‘17’ was scribbled over Pattin’s ‘33’, which could be Cecil Cooper’s number considering the Red Sox provenance. Since the bat itself is from the 1969-1972 timeframe it’s possible it could be from his time as a Seattle Pilot (winning their first game in franchise history on Opening Day) or Milwaukee Brewer.

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Pressman did photography in the 1980s and had Williams, Yaz and many of the Sox stars of the day sign super high quality 16x20 prints of his work. I’ll upload better photos but these are of Ted Williams at the 1982 Old-Timers Game and Yaz’s final game in 1983.

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Thanks Jonathan!

Epic pick up.
Seems Paul has a knack for finding these types of balls.

pro model bat
 

Hal Rhyne bat. Hal played for the 1927 NL champion Pirates and later for the Red Sox, periodically enjoying a fine career in the PCL.

1940 Lou Gehrig Biography Advertising Pamphlet. Four-page pamphlet advertises Stan W. Carlson's biography about the Hall of Fame first baseman for the New York Yankees. I'm now on the lookout for this book.

The back of it.

It's a beauty. The book pops up every once in a while. In case you have not seen it, here is what it looks like

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That is great. Thanks for sharing the image of the book. Hopefully one will pop up.

I hope you find one. I think i wound up paying $150-200 for it on eBay. That is more than i would pay for any of the other Gehrig books, but it is much harder to find.

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EBay purchase just came in. Population for the 1887 St Louis team note went up to 10 now. One of my favorite notes behind the 1893 All Star note

Geat pickups are Scott’s specialty! :p

1917 Reach Baseball Guide
 

This 1917 Reach Official American League Baseball Guide just arrived.

I took a chance hoping it would have some interesting stats and photos. Happily, it contains team photos of the Red Sox (featuring Ruth front and center) and White Sox. The 1917 White Sox won the World Series that year and most of the same players were part of the Black Sox scandal.

This is now my first Ruth collectible that's contemporary with his playing days. :)

I now need to figure out how to digitize the book for archival purposes without damaging the binding.

Reach guides online
 

Sent you a pm, but found the site easily,
See SeanLahman.com for an index if all the guides that already available online. It includes this guide so you may be spared digitalization.

Thanks you've just saved me a fair amount of work.

Happy to add another Yogi Berra bat (1950s) to the collection. Ill clean her up this weekend.

Wow! Great pickups!

Feb starting out strong some great pick ups!

Some great stuff so far. I got these 2 bats in the mail yesterday. I am now up to 9 different Little League/store model Wade Boggs bats. I had been looking for a BB997 model that wasn't beat to heck for some time. The K48 has a cupped end, I try to pick up any new to me numbered models I can when I find them.

I think this is probably my favorite pickup so far in February. Got it re-framed this week but technically received in January. I'm not sure why, but it really has become one of my new favorite pieces to own.

Jerry McCarthy was first the Mascot and then the Bat Boy for the Boston Red Sox from 1910 to at least 1912 (possibly longer). He appears in a number of press and team Photographs from this period. In one report we read he was called “The First Fenway Bat Boy” as he was the Bat Boy during the inaugural season of that legendary Ballpark.

The Photograph is a bust portrait of the young Bat Boy wearing the 1912 uniform of the Boston Red Sox. The words “Red Sox” on his jersey are hand tinted red and the Photo is signed by the photographer “G. White / Boston”. It's VERY large!



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Cleveland Baseball Magazines
 

Added a few more subjects to my Cleveland Baseball Magazines collection

-1955 Reston Slacks Baseball Guide Book Al Rosen cover
-1956 Pleybol Magazine (Mexico) Bob Feller cover
-1965 The Clevelander Magazine Rocky Colavito cover

On eBay right now. Buy it now $555.55 lol Not my listing.

Picked up and cleaned up this Walker Reach bat. Cleaned up better than I thought.

Nice pick up Ron. Great job on the clean up also. Looks like you put a little life back in that beauty.

Thank you Bill. A little Goo Gone and some Feed N Wax to give it some life. Any tips with removing tape and cleaning up bats? I have another bat and I got most of the tape off but there's still some left and it's a bear to get off.

Looks great! Did you blacken the “WALKER”?

No it had tape residue when I got it. I took it all off.

Some types of tape residue can really be a problem. I believe you have my email, send me a couple of pics and I will see if I can help.

Fantastic!

February pick ups
 

Picked up a box I had never seen to add to my 1971 box versions. I traded a tough box to get it with another member but happy to get the contest box

Posted this in the "Vintage Baseball Ladies" thread on the main forum so I figured the pickup post should be made here.

Picked up a 1961-64 Buddy Lewis L5 model bat. Never seen a bat stamped with just the name from this time period.

Interesting bat. Any thoughts why LS would produce a Buddy Lewis bat in 1961-64?

Mark I was wondering the same thing. The only thing I can think of is maybe made for coaching. I don't think Lewis was a coach though. I'm hoping somebody else has some information on this.

February pickups
 

Sorry, wrong thread.

That Buddy Lewis bat is great - especially because it's just his signature name on the barrel, which makes it look older.
Here's my guess on the bat -- his bio says after he retired from baseball he operated a bowling alley and a car dealership , so maybe he asked H&B to make him a copy of his bat so he could display it at one of those places. He was also very involved with American Legion baseball and at one point had a field named after him, so maybe he was given the bat at some sort of special presentation.
The good thing is, it still looks great!

By the way, I have a Lefty Gomez and Floyd Patterson from that same time period -- same thing, just the branded signature on the barrel.


Greg

Thanks Greg for the information. That's pretty cool to think it could of been made for him for one of his businesses. If you have a chance would you be able to post the bats your have like this? Would love to see them.

-Ron

Greg's suggestion is intriguing. Worth noting: back in 2001, Bushing and Knoll's Guide to Game Used Bats says that Lewis's L5 is among the "most predominant models found in the H&B bat records." Could players, say in the minors, have ordered an L5 from H&B and received a Buddy Lewis signature bat in the 60's? Would they recieve a Lewis bat? I understand that in this case, the words "Genuine Louisville Slugger" are supposed to be on the barrel, and maybe that puts this into a very special category of bat.

Am sooo freaking excited by my newest acquisition. It came framed but will be redoing it to match others on my wall.
Not much more to say
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Nice Ruth Check!

Here are the bats I referenced Ron. As you can see, my recollection on Floyd Patterson was incorrect -- it's a 50s model. I still don't know how to make my photos larger.

Mark that could be the case -- perhaps that could be a Buddy Lewis index bat sent to the minors?

Greg