Autograph ID help
 

Going through my childhood collection, and I found this old ball with several signatures on it. It used to be my Grandfather's, and the ball I believe was given to him by the old MLB manager/scout Herman Franks probably sometime in the 1960s, who is among the signatures I am certain of (Franks was an old family friend on my Mom's side; I even got to meet him once at his house in the mid-late 1980s when I was a kid. He was super nice, signed a bunch of stuff for my brothers, cousins and I, plus gave us a bunch of unopened 1978 Topps cello packs!).

The signatures (I believe) I can identify are:

Herman Franks (only one I am certain of)
Ty Cline
Ted Abernathy
Leo Burke
Jim Proctor
Steve Hamilton

Can anybody help me identify any of the others (or correct those above)? (Unfortunately, the ball was not well cared for, so some of them are very faint).

Also, any ideas on how this collection of (seemingly random) players may have come to be on a single ball?

Apart from Ty Cline who played for SF in 1967-68, they don't seem to overlap with Franks' managerial career (SF 1965-68, Cubs 1977-79)...

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks, David

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images.../franks-herman

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images.../franks-herman

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images.../franks-herman

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images.../franks-herman

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images.../franks-herman

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images.../franks-herman

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images.../franks-herman

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images.../franks-herman

One for sure is Fred Fitzsimmons on the sweet spot.

Autograph ID help
 

Thanks Sean. Freddie Fitzsimmons who played 1925-1943??

Edited to add: Interesting if so, He and Franks would have been teammates in Brooklyn in 1940-41 (Both signed the sweetspot, but with different colored pens). Although now I am even more confused...

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You got All Luplow on there, too. I'm betting this was a minor league ball, although the only Don Schaefer that comes up barely made a blip.

Autograph ID help
 

Thanks Ken for the tip!

With some additional searching, I am extremely happy to say this long family mystery appears to be solved! The ball is indeed a minor league ball, from the 1961 Salt Lake City Bees. (Makes perfect sense in retrospect, as my grandparents lived in SLC!). A link to the roster:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/mi...gi?id=43f39a2b

There it shows that they were indeed managed by none other than Freddie Fitzsimmons (the former teammate) and Herman Franks! (All the signatures I can make out are listed too!)

The Bees were then the AAA affiliate for Cleveland, and many of the players on the ball made it to the Bigs soon after...

Thanks guys so very much for this help! This is really cool to finally pinpoint where this family heirloom came from!

Cheers, David


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