Campanella
This is a strange one. When i started collecting in the mid 70s I too was in the camp that the post accident signatures of Campanella were not the "real" thing. Looking back this was groupthink...perpetuated by the fact that his wife could them sign his legal signature. And many of signatures in the market were by her. So you had 3 camps...those that only wanted pre-accident (majority), those that wanted to save money and get the post-accident scrawl, and thirdly those that would accept his legal signature (signed by his wife) to "check the box" on having his signature.
Looking back, there is no reason to think that his pre-accident signature is less authentic than his post accident. It is harder to authenticate (unless it comes with notarization, which he did at many shows late in life). I wish I had a signed HOF plaque...all I have now is Perez Steele.
Tons of players have signicantly different signatures at age 80 than 40, and when you throw in strokes by folks like Combs, Haines, Leonard with the significant aging associated with Grove and others, its tough to make the case not to collect post accident signatures.
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