Info about Bill Zekus collection ???

[MooseDog]

Great story Jim.

I sold and traded a lot with Bill Zekus from the 1970s to the early 1980s when I kind of put collecting on hiatus.

I never had the honor of meeting him in person but we bought sold and traded with each other frequently through the mail, nothing near on par with Jim's dealings with him, mind you. Since I was actively chasing autographs in the Oakland/San Francisco area as well has heavy TTM activity I think I helped him out with a lot of post-Brooklyn guys as well as some of the Hall of Famers.

As there was no effective way to scan and send pictures back then our relationship was based on trust. He'd send his current want list, and I'd send him what I had with the understanding he could take what he wanted and send back the rest. Often the "rest" came back with a couple of things of his just because he was such a nice guy.

He helped me a LOT with getting my own HOF collection up to a pretty substantial level for back then.

Such a gentleman and great trader friend, you just don't find too many guys like that any more.

[JimStinson]

I agree 100%, It sounds strange today but back then it was about TRADING not SELLING
Also when you mentioned being from the BAY area it gave me chills , in 1989 I was sitting in Bill Zekus living room ready to watch the World Series on TV when the infamous earthquake hit.

[Mr. Zipper]

Great story, Jim.

In your estimation, are there comparable "original owner" type collections that have yet to be uncovered?

[MooseDog]

...at least you were sitting, I was in the closet on the 2nd floor of our townhouse with one leg out of my pants. When the shaking started then got worse and the glass started to creak I was thinking I was going to be found in a pile of townhouse rubble with my pants half off...

The TH held up but my East Coast room mates were in a pretty bad state. For them it was their first taste of California geology.

[MooseDog]

Just in Northern California I know of at least 3 baseball autograph collectors who were trying to "get 'em all" and though I've lost touch with them I think they are still around.

There are also at least two guys who were heavy in-person collectors and both never sold or traded anything. I would think if those collections are still intact they'd be quite a find.

One of my personal contemporaries I also lost touch with, Richard Masson (last contact was in Southern California), had already amassed quite a collection just into the late 1970s. Has anyone dealt with him recently?

I think there are quite a few nice autograph collections out there but Jim probably knows best where they are

[mschwade]

Originally Posted by MooseDog

Just in Northern California I know of at least 3 baseball autograph collectors who were trying to "get 'em all" and though I've lost touch with them I think they are still around.

When you say Get Em All, how far does that go back? Certainly, there has to be some kind of limits, right?

[JimStinson]

"Get em All" meant 1876 the initial formation of the National League till the present. Anyone that ever appeared in a game.
Strange as it sounds you could actually take on a project like that back then, because there were less collectors and more "Stuff" ALOT cheaper too.
Although I seriously doubt that anyone ever GOT EM ALL , Even with Trump's wallet it would simply be impossble, even then

[Tom Hufford]

Bill Zekus was one of my earliest and closest friends when I got started in my autograph hunt, about 1969. I'm not sure how I came to know him, but it was probably through Jim MacAllister.

Bill's collecting interests were in three categories - 1. Every player who had ever played for the Dodgers; 2. Every Hall of Famer; 3. Every player who reached specific statistical levels, like 175 wins, 300 home runs, 2000 hits, etc. I don't remember the specific numbers, but in effect, it was all the players who appeared in The Sporting News' Daguerreotypes (sp??) book. Bill also wanted to acquire 3 items on each player - a signed photo, a signed gum/tobacco card, and a flat item such as a 3x5, signed check, business paper, etc.

So, if Bill happened to run across a tough signature that didn't fit one of his criteria, he was always willing to trade. Thing is, it was hard to find something from his wantlist. I learned that the hard way, though. About 1970, while trying to track down "what ever happened to" players that weren't listed as deceased in the new Macmillan Baseball Encyclopedia, I located the son of Wallace Oakes Clement, who played with the 1908-09 Phillies and Dodgers. His son completed a biographical questionnaire on his dad (who, it turns out, had died in 1953) - and he sent me his dad's signed Social Security card. I told Bill about it and he went nuts, knowing that I had a Dodger autograph that he needed. He ended up offering me an album page signed by Jack Picus Quinn in exchange for the Clement SS card, and I did it. After all, Quinn won over 200 games, pitched into his late 40s, etc. Over the years, though, I ran across numerous examples of Jack Quinn, and never another Clement (that stood to reason, his son had given me the only one he had!). Of course, Bill was never interested in trading it back to me - and it took me over 30 years to get the Wally Clement SS card back (after Bill died).

The first autograph collection I ever purchased was a joint deal with Bill in about 1971- we purchased the collection of Roger Christensen, who I didn't know, but Bill told me Roger was going into the military and wanted to sell. Bill said the price was $600 (I believed him - and still do), so I sent Bill $300. I have no idea how I came up with $300 - I was in college, had a job mowing grass at a church for $30 a month - so that was a huge purchase for me. Roger sent the collection to Bill, we agreed to split the HOFers first, then the rest of the collection. Bill split them up, and sent me a box full of stuff - including a 3x5s of Cy Young, Fred Clarke, Bobby Wallace, and cuts of Ban Johnson and Lou Gehrig - the first example I'd had of each. I don't remember exactly what else I got, probably 1,000 -2,000 3x5s. I have no idea what Bill took out before sending me my half - but looking back, I see that I got my money's worth. And, later I got to know Roger Christensen, too.

Bill was a insurance agent in Fishkill, NY, just north of NYC. He had a teenage son who was struck and killed by an auto in the late 1970s/early 1980s, and as you can imagine, that really affected Bill. I sensed that he lost most of his interest in autograph collecting after that. Not long after that, he relocated to New Port Richey, FL, where he lived the rest of his life. We kept in touch up until his death, on June 21, 2001, but really didn't do much autograph-wise during the last 15 years or so.

I think I only met Bill in person three times - at the HOF induction weekend in Cooperstown in 1971, 1972, and 1974. I was surprised several months ago when someone posted an article about Bill Mastro selling a T206 Wagner on this site - and there was an unrelated photo that included Bill Zekus and myself. I'll try to add a link to it here:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=150405

In the second photo from the top, on the left, that's Bill Zekus in the center, I'm on the right, and I have no idea who that is on the left. Someone (I don't know who) must have taken this photo at Cooperstown (I'm guessing its 1974) - obviously we were getting balls signed by the players in attendance, and were comparing our successes.

I miss Bill, and wish everyone on this board could have known him.

[thecatspajamas]

Tom, Thanks for sharing the memories!

Just thought I'd re-post the photo you referenced above here for simplicity's sake:

[JimStinson]

Steve: I know of at least a few of those type of collections that are still around and relatively intact. And am sure there are probably a dozen or so that just stayed in the family or estate after the original collector passed on that we don;t know about

Mr. Stone: It must have been horrific being there ! It was scary from 3,000 miles away ! from what I remember it was during the warm ups before the game and the reception went out and then returned ....and the players and families were walking around on the field in shock, then later watching the devastation that happened to the surrounding area.