1945 New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox Opening Day Ticket!

[jrlebert]

I recently bought a huge box of old postcards at a garage sale (maybe 500 postcards), and after going through the whole box, I kept two things from it, and gave the rest to my friend.

The first, I found another picture HERE of a different postcard that is almost the same, but not. I have no idea the year, or value, and any info would be greatly appreciated. Mine is unused, but creased.

Judge Landis / William Wrigley, Jr. Catalina Island Postcard



The second, I am pretty sure, is a used 1945 New York Yankees Opening Day ticket, from April 17, 1945. Did a little research on the game, and it was a New York Yankees win over their rival, the Boston Red Sox, 8-4. It was the major league debut for 4 players: Ben Steiner (2B - BOS), who had a HR, SB, and 5 total bases, and three players who played just one season (1945) in the bigs, Fred Walters (C - BOS), Otey Clark (RP - BOS), and Yankees SS Joe Buzas.

Hall of Famers Joe Cronin (BOS) and Joe McCarthy (NYY) were the managers, as well as Cronin slotting himself 5th in the batting order.

Atley Donald got the win for NYY, and Rex Cecil took the loss for Boston. Jim Turner got the first of what would be his 10 league leading saves for the Yankees.

Another neat note is that two of the umpires were long time major leaguers, George Pipgras, a member of the 1927 Yankees (as well as two other WS winning Yankees teams), and Eddie Rommel, 3rd all time with 171 wins for the Philadelphia Athletics, including 27 in 1922, and the 1929 WS.



Any info and pricing on either would be greatly appreciated! Shoot me an email at jrlebert@gmail.com if need be.

These items are both for sale. I just need quite a bit more info on them before making a transaction.

[jrlebert]

I did not know this at all, but the NYY player who made his debut in this game, SS Joe Buzas, was quite the entrepreneur!

From baseball-reference.com:

Joe Buzas owned 82 minor league teams at some point in a 47-year period. At the time of his death he owned the Salt Lake Stingers. The opening day shortstop for the New York Yankees in 1945, he badly injured his shoulder, ending his playing career. The first team he owned was the Syracuse Chiefs. In 1978 he paid $1 for the debt-ridden Reading Phillies and in 1986 sold the team for $1 million. Buzas was known for turning a profit when times were poor financially in the minors.

Also for NYY fans, the winner of this game, Atley Donald, spent all 8 of his years in MLB with the Yankees. He won 65 games, and this was his final year in the bigs.

[jrlebert]

Any added info on the value or origin of the postcard, and the value of the ticket would be great!

[jrlebert]

Just checking in again to see if I can get any info, rarity, or price on the Opening Day ticket.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by jrlebert

Just checking in again to see if I can get any info, rarity, or price on the Opening Day ticket.

Hi J.R.,

Wecome to net54! I'm a vintage ticket guy. I looked carefully at condition, potential noteworthy events and attendance to give you a estimate of value.

Comments: O/D 1945 was obviously wartime and the majority of all good players were fulfilling their military hitches. As such, neither the Yankees or the Red Sox fielded a team with any much collecting interest. Approximately 14,000 were in attendance which was a decent size crowd for 1945, thus this ticket is not supremely rare. Condition of the ticket would be G-VG at best based on your scan. Potential value = $25-$40 probably best case scenario. The only collector that would care about this ticket would be a Red Sox die hard fan or an Opening Day ticket collector.

I hope this helps!

[smotan_02]

If youre looking to sell, your best bet will be to pick up the program on the cheap and couple it.