Well, much to my great surprise, December ended up producing my favorite pickup of 2012. Christmas came early this year!
Here is a game ball from Nolan Ryan's 15th strikeout in his 1974 AL record 19 K 9-inning game on 8/12/74. Ryan passed HOF Bob Feller for the AL record and tied Tom Seaver and Steve Carlton's ML record 19 K's in this game. This ball came directly from the Angels 1974 ball boy Paul Hirsch. Paul retrieved the ball when it hit the backstop and screen during the at bat of Cecil Cooper immediately following Ryan's 15th K that night. His letter of provenance fills in all the details.
Rocket Roger Clemens, Kerry Wood and Randy Johnson have since become the standard bearers with 20 K's in a 9 inning game.
Additionally, I purchased Nolan Ryan's 1974 Angels locker tag from Paul as well. I don't know if it is clearly visible, but you can actually see these Angels locker tags in the background in the picture of Paul and Nolan posing together in the Angels Clubhouse in 1974.
1974 was arguably one of Nolan's best seasons. He struck out 19
three times (yikes!), a 1-hitter and his 3rd career no hitter.
Both of these items are excellent additions to the Angels portion of my advanced Nolan Ryan collection. Not many items make their way into my Ryan collection these days. They have to have special significance and have perfect provenance. These two items made the cut in a huge way...
Many thanks to long time Bay Area collector/dealer friend Mark Macrae for connecting me with Paul!
12-20-2012, 07:23 AM
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