Toughest 1940's & 1950's Baseball Autographs

[earlywynnfan]

Originally Posted by JimStinson

I get asked this question alot, So figured I'd put it out there for anyone thats interested.
Obviously a subject for debate here but what I did is put together the collector "want lists" I have accumulated over the years and found the names that intersected the most.
Probably not the most "expensive" autographs from the 1940's & 1950's but certainly the toughest to find.
The names noted with a (*) ARE expensive in some cases VERY expensive and would easily eclipse many Hall of Fame autographs in terms of what they would cost IF you could find one. Have listed by debut year
1941) WIMPY QUINN
1943) CONNIE CREEDEN (*)
1944) JOHN FICK (*), CLANCY SMYRES (*)
1945) WOODY CROWSON (*)
1946) JOHN CARDEN
1949) JULIO GONZALES (*)
1951) EDDIE GAEDEL (*)
1955) WEBBO CLARKE (*), WENC GONZALES (*)
1956) CHARLIE PEETE
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Vintage autographs for sale daily
stinsonsports.com

Other than the ones who died early, would you mind giving a quick blurb about why some of these guys are so tough? I think that'd be very interesting.

Thanks, Ken

[JimStinson]

Don't know how I missed HERB GORMAN (Thanks Tom), yes he should be on the list also and with an (*).
Lino Dinoso WAS tough for a long time and to a degree still is. I bought and sold about a dozen signed Dinoso documents a few years back so I may have single handedly removed him from the list (smile) at least for awhile.
Ken ...with regards to the reasons they are tough see Tom's post above which applies to most I've listed here. They either died young, or vanished after their short stint in the major leagues or BOTH. The exception being CLANCY SMYRES who just absolutely REFUSED to sign ANYTHING
1941) WIMPY QUINN
1943) CONNIE CREEDEN (*)
1944) JOHN FICK (*), CLANCY SMYRES (*)
1945) WOODY CROWSON (*)
1946) JOHN CARDEN
1949) JULIO GONZALES (*)
1951) EDDIE GAEDEL (*)
1955) WEBBO CLARKE (*), WENC GONZALES (*)
1956) CHARLIE PEETE

[byrone]

How do Harry Agganis autographs rate in scarcity?

[stat192]

Agganis autographs are rare but not as rare as the others. Even though he died young, he was a a college superstar at Boston University in both football and baseball, so he signed alot in college. So even though he had a short period to sign, he was a willing signer both in person and through the mail.

[JimStinson]

Particularly sad ending to Charlie Peete

The reigning 1956 batting average champion of the Triple-A American Association who received a one-month, 23-game trial with the 1956 St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball, Peete was projected by some as the leading candidate to be the Cardinals' 1957 starting center fielder.[1] But he was killed in a commercial airplane crash near the Caracas, Venezuela, airport while flying to his winter-league baseball team in late November 1956; his wife, Nettie, and their three young children were also among the 25 victims of the crash

[JimStinson]

Also a few I will admit responsiblity for destroying the demand for
Chico Hernandez (1942 Cubs) Died Cuba 1986
Tommy Dela Cruz (1944 Reds) Died Cuba 1958
Tony "Mosquito" Ordenana (1943 Pirates) Died-Cuba
for buying and selling a collection that included DOZENS of autographs of each , and another all time toughie RAMON GARCIA (debut 1948) Bill C. actually did a private signing with him so .....Toughies no more

[travrosty]

Jim,

are people who want these tough, short lived major league career players, are they collecting them to try to finish a team set from a certain year, or do they just want to collect the toughest players- period, or do they want to collect every player who played? I'm trying to figure out the demand out of curiosity because it doesnt seem to translate into other sports autograph collecting as much.