March autograph pickups

[Scott Garner]

A "rare" Bob Feller autograph? C'mon, you've got to be kidding...

Actually, (HOF) Bob Feller on a signed personal check is quite rare.
As with many players, their wives frequently did all the check writing.
Bob Feller was one of these guys, except for the time shortly after he divorced his first wife in 1971. What few checks that he wrote were, for the most part, during 1972.

I believe Mr. Feller took up residence at the Sheraton-Cleveland Hotel in downtown Cleveland after the divorce. At the time he was employed as the Director of Sales-Sports for the Hilton Hotel in downtown Cleveland. I suppose, during this period of time in his life, it probably made good sense to simplify things.

Thankfully Mr. Feller did remarry again, to his second wife Ann, and they moved to a Cleveland suburb.

Anyway, I just picked up this twice signed 1972 personal check made out to the Sheraton-Cleveland Hotel.

I'm very happy to add this to my collection of signed checks of pitchers that threw a no-hitter or perfect game. Currently I have checks to 45 different no-hit pitchers. It's been quite a while since I added any new ones.

[7nohitter]

Cool back story, Scott...I guess you do, indeed, have a 'rare' Feller auto!!

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by 7nohitter

Cool back story, Scott...I guess you do, indeed, have a 'rare' Feller auto!!

Thanks Andrew!

[esiason14]

Very cool!

[gregr2]

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[esiason14]

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by esiason14

Very cool!

Thanks Kyle! I like your signed cards, too.

[esiason14]

Scott,
Just out of curiosity, was there a reason you chose checks for your project? Who are the toughest no-hit guys that you have?

[gregr2]

Nice collection...and nice to have a focus.

[thetruthisoutthere]

My Tom Tresh signed bat.


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[johnmh71]

Scott-

Very nice. Believe it or not, I think the Seaver money order may be the rarest with exception of the Hahn check. I have never seen a HOF money order.

[esiason14]

Scott,
Thanks for sharing. I dig the Noodles Hahn. I've been looking for his auto for my collection as well.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by esiason14

Scott,
Thanks for sharing. I dig the Noodles Hahn. I've been looking for his auto for my collection as well.

Thanks Kyle! Frankly that's my favorite piece in this portion of my collection.
Like I stated before, 1st no-hitter of the 1900's!! Early vintage is way cool.

Check out the note from Noodles on the back of a signed 3 x 5 that net54's Jim Stinson had recently. If he hasn't sold it, I believe that this may be the nicest Noodles signed piece in the hobby. I love this inscription!

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by johnmh71

Scott-

Very nice. Believe it or not, I think the Seaver money order may be the rarest with exception of the Hahn check. I have never seen a HOF money order.

Hi John,

Thanks for the info, I wasn't aware of that at all.
This scan is for you. Twice signed! Enjoy.

[gregr2]

Nice^^^^ I came so close to buying that, congrats!#

[milkit1]

two signed, one to go
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[GrayGhost]

Originally Posted by gregr2

Nice^^^^ I came so close to buying that, congrats!#

Its for sale sir

[Bosox Blair]

From the last Love of the Game Auction:

[koufax1fan]

Originally Posted by Bosox Blair

From the last Love of the Game Auction:

Those Gateway cachets are always nice! Is Tom still at it in Florissant, Mo..
Phil

[Scott Garner]

Neat surprise!

A very good friend of mine from Canada was recently in Cuba on vacation with his teenage son.

He called me after returning home from the trip and let me know that he was going to be sending me a present. He attended a memorable game on 2/17/14 between the Matanzas Crocodiles and Villa Clara. Other than the Cuban National team, the Matanzas Crocodiles are currently the best team in Cuba. Many of the players on this team also play on the Cuban National Team.

What made this game particularly noteworthy is that the pitcher of the Villa Clara team started hitting batters on the hometown Crocodiles after serving up a long home run. After 2 or 3 batters in a row got smoked by high fastballs, one of the Crocodiles came flying out of the dugout with a bat and took a swing and connected with the Villa Clara pitcher. Yikes! Shades of Juan Marichal and Johnny Roseboro...

Here is a link if you care to take a look:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-bi...175231255.html

For those of us that don't live north of the US border, here is a view of Cuba at it's finest as well as some photos of the game my friend Ron attended with his son.

Anyway, my package from Canada arrived today. Inside was this 2014 Matanzas Crocodiles team signed game used Cuban baseball. Apparently in Cuba, fans in the stands are still required to return foul balls because new balls are so hard to come by (like early ML baseball). Here are photos of my Crocodiles team ball.

Cuba Libre!

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by koufax1fan

Those Gateway cachets are always nice! Is Tom still at it in Florissant, Mo..
Phil

Thanks Phil! I have a few others as well. I find they tend to sell for a nice price, but still display very well.

I'm no expert on these, but I think they don't produce them anymore.

Cheers,
Blair

[TheBig6]

My favorite Catcher growing up

[thxforthebp]

Picked up a very unique Tommy Holmes trophy ball from 1945 his best season. Appears to be all in his hand and looks to be game used. Any input would be appreciated.

[esiason14]

Cool ball!

Got this one back today from a private signing:

[Scott Garner]

Signed at the Reds Caravan in WV recently.

[gregr2]

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[gregr2]

Wow!!! ^^^^^

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Roger Holt was one my baseball coaches growing up. His sons and I have been friends for years. I remember him saying that people would occasionally mail him something to sign and it cracked him up.

[gregr2]

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[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Love the haircut

[earlywynnfan]

I'm really excited about these two, both came last week. Finally a Moe Berg! I know it's rough, but it displays as a single.

As for the Newt Allen, it's getting rare that I can add a NL single without breaking the bank!

Ken

[esiason14]

Very cool! I'm currently looking for a nice Berg as well.

[esiason14]

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Really nice Ichiro!

[gregr2]

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[gregr2]

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[Scott Garner]

Not a difficult signature overall, but definitely a cool check, IMHO...

Here is a TRIPLE signed Carl Erskine personal check to add to my collection of checks signed by no-hit pitchers.

Oisk threw two no-hitters, one in 1952 and one in 1956 for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Carl Erskine is one of the nicest former players on the planet, bar none!

[esiason14]

Erskine is awesome. He called me one time after I sent him an old photo to sign. He looked up my number and wanted to chat about that picture.

[almostdone]

Scott, I'm not a check collector but am a huge Erskine fan. I have obtained a few autos through the mail from him and he was by far the nicest and most complimentary person ive gotten. I wrote him a thank you letter and told him it wasn't necessary to write back. He hand wrote me a 3 page letter back thanking me for remembering him. He included a lot of personal information in it as well (ie, he wears his 59 WS ring, has 9 grand children and 4 great grandchildren, never kept any baseball things except rings, etc.)
Really nice piece. Congrats!
Drew

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Great Tony Larussa. Most famous FSU law school alumni.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

That is a nice CJ.

[esiason14]

Very nice! I did get one more this month, but I won't even post it! I love the Cracker Jack.

[thenavarro]

Originally Posted by esiason14

Very nice! I did get one more this month, but I won't even post it! I love the Cracker Jack.

Don't be shy. I love to see people's new stuff!