W600 Signed Cy Young - Now Authentic?

[Steve D]

Originally Posted by scooter729

Like many private persons, Cy Young was a quiet man. That’s also why, when he traveled, he signed hotel registers as D.T. Young. (Sporting News, 2/10/1912) He preferred anonymity.
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So at least it appears the D.T. Young was a period signature of the time for him.

OK, so he signed "D.T. Young" in an attempt to protect his privacy, and maintain some sort of anonimity.

Why then, would he sign an autograph on a baseball card or photo, as "D.T. Young". The person obtaining the signature obviously knew his identity, so there was no anonimity or privacy to maintain.

Many famous people, even today, register at hotels under pseudonyms. They do not however, use these pseudonyms when signing autographs.

Steve
Steve

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by Steve D

OK, so he signed "D.T. Young" in an attempt to protect his privacy, and maintain some sort of anonimity.

Why then, would he sign an autograph on a baseball card or photo, as "D.T. Young". The person obtaining the signature obviously knew his identity, so there was no anonimity or privacy to maintain.

Many famous people, even today, register at hotels under pseudonyms. They do not however, use these pseudonyms when signing autographs.

Steve
Steve

Steve, I was just going to write the same thing. That W600 is no hotel registry....

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by calvindog

Steve, I was just going to write the same thing. That W600 is no hotel registry....

True, but I'd guess old Cy put less thought into signing things from item to item than any of us put into our posts on this thread. Putting aside the authenticity of this card, of which I have no opinion, I'd be willing to wager Mr. Young signed some things other than hotel registries with his initials, as opposed to "Cy".

[scooter729]

My purpose of the post was simply to show that in that time period of around 1912 (time of the Sporting News article), Cy at least in some instances referred to himself as D.T. Young.

So the premise of an autograph being signed in such a manner is not crazy.

I wouldn't even venture a guess as to the authenticity of the signature on the W600, but I was just referencing a period article quoting Young signing his name (albeit on a hotel registry) as D.T. Young.

[T206Collector]

Of all of the forgeries of Cy Young's name that have been done, I would guess a larger percentage of those forgeries have "Cy" in the name, or even "Denton" than "D.T." Which is not to say, again, that this one is real or fake. To me it just wasn't a red flag, standing alone.

[canjond]

Also, in terms of JSA having exemplars, either they didn't, or Goodwin "inflated" the isting by saying:

"perhaps NO other Cy Young signatures carry the virtually impossible “D.T.” initials. At the risk of “skipping a beat”, we are still trying to assess the magnitude of finding a “D.T.” young autograph on what may be his rarest card in existence."

Clearly the text of the auction makes it seem as though JSA didn't have any DT exemplars or didn't inform Goodwin that they did.

[bigfish]

Everyone likes to assume the worst and is an expert on D.T. Young's auto. Nothing new here. Would JSA put their reputation on the line without extensive research? No. That would be foolish. There are other examples out there as Rhett stated earlier. D.T. Young also can be found on Young's return address on envelopes mailed early in his playing days. They can be found on the web...Google It


Jon C
Edited to say I assume the Goodwin write-up indicates that this is the only signed D.T. Young card known. That makes sense to me. Maybe there was another signed cabinet as Rhett stated but I assume there is no recorded sale to reference.