[Leon]

Interesting white whales. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Topnotchsy

Not sure whether one can have multiple 'white whales' but I have a few items that fit that.

• I have been building a collection that chronicles Jackie Robinson's career pre-1947. I have something for almost every notable stop, but have never been able to acquire anything from the 1941 Honolulu Bears, and continue to search for something. I've only ever seen one ticket from Jackie's time there. (Crazy fact: Jackie left Hawaii 2 days before Pearl Harbor).
• Integration - In the offseason between 1945-1946, the Dodgers signed 4 black players. Jackie and Johnny Wright signed to play for the AAA Montreal Royals. Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe signed and would play for the Nashua Dodgers. But initially, that was not the team they signed to play for. Branch Rickey had them sign with the Danville Dodgers. But after signing, Rickey was informed that that the team was not ready to integrate, and a few weeks later, they signed a new agreement to play in Nashua. I have Campanella's 1946 contract for Danville and Nashua. I have been able to acquire Newcombe's Nashua contract. But I have never even seen a picture of Newcombe's contract to play in Danville and I think that it would be the final piece to tell that story.
• I have been collecting lineup cards for many years and have had the chance to buy some incredibly cool ones. I have MLB debuts of significant players, milestone games, World Series games etc. In my years of collecting I have found lineup cards with Gehrig, DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Mays, Aaron etc. One player that I have not found is a lineup card with Babe Ruth in the lineup. In fact, the only one I have ever seen was from the 1933 All-Star game and sold for $120,000. Lineup cards from the early 1930's exist (I have found images online from lineup cards as far back as 1931) so there is no obvious reason a lineup with Ruth in it should not exist. Would be an absolute white whale for me.