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Posted By: Tom Hufford

Russ Hall was Secretary of the APBPA from its founding, in 1924, until his death in 1937. The group currently has 11,000+ members. I have several of the APBPA annual reports put out in the 1930s, and if they had about 1,000 members then, Russ Hall would have signed that many membership cards each year - or maybe 10,000 in all.

I'm surprised that they surface, since if one of my ancestors were a member or played in the majors, I would keep that stuff in the family. But, many have become available over the years, usually sold as part of a family's estate. I have found several in flea markets over the years.

I have several of the cards signed by Russ Hall, and several more signed by his successor Win Clark. They are not "rare" by any means, but they sure don't turn up every day either.

Nice find.