September pickups

[bender07]

Wow great pickup Scott. Where do you find those wonderful sigs? (Channeling my inner Joker)

[earlywynnfan]

That's a fantastic pic, Scott!

[Michael B]

I just picked up this autograph album. It belonged to a woman who ran the dining hall used by the U.S. team during the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Not only is it filled with about 75 signatures of U.S. athletes including several nice full page signatures with nothing on the back. The book itself is one of the nicest I have seen or owned. The cover is made of kid glove leather, still nice and soft with no cracks for over 55 years old.

1) Paul Anderson (1932-94), considered by many to be the strongest man that ever lived. Gold medalist in 1956 and also world champ that year. He went into powerlifting. He did a 3 rep squat of 900lbs and did a back lift off of trestles of 6,270 lbs. the greatest weight ever lifted by a human.

2) Jim Boyd (1930-97) - gold medal in boxing. Had a short pro career. The first one I have seen of his.

3) Jesse Owens - everyone knows about him. Very similar to the signature he was still signing when he died, but fancier than his signature in the 1930's.

4) James Smith - not a big name, but one of 6 Olympians born in my hometown. Five are still living, but he would be the toughest to find due to the common name.

5)
&
6) The gold medal baskeball team. Includes Hall of Famers Bill Russell, K.C. Jones and Bruce Drake. All of the signatures on the first page are legitimate. The second page includes at least 3 non-malicious 'signed by others' signatures. The Gib Ford on the second page is not his signature, 1st page is. I have a letter out to Ron Tomsic (2nd signature) asking if that is his writing. The Bob "Jeanjerard" is misspelled. His last name is Jeangerard, but pronounced like it is signed. The second Bill Evans is not his signature and is signed 'Bll'. The Jim Walsh signature is rarer than a vintage Bill Russell as he died in 1976. The second page also includes two of the three amatuer male double gold medalists in basketball Burdette Haldorson (1956 & 1960) and Bill Hougland (1952 & 1956) though I suspect the Hougland may be signed by another as his name appears to be misspelled.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Michael B

I just picked up this autograph album. It belonged to a woman who ran the dining hall used by the U.S. team during the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Not only is it filled with about 75 signatures of U.S. athletes including several nice full page signatures with nothing on the back. The book itself is one of the nicest I have seen or owned. The cover is made of kid glove leather, still nice and soft with no cracks for over 55 years old.

1) Paul Anderson (1932-94), considered by many to be the strongest man that ever lived. Gold medalist in 1956 and also world champ that year. He went into powerlifting. He did a 3 rep squat of 900lbs and did a back lift off of trestles of 6,270 lbs. the greatest weight ever lifted by a human.

2) Jim Boyd (1930-97) - gold medal in boxing. Had a short pro career. The first one I have seen of his.

3) Jesse Owens - everyone knows about him. Very similar to the signature he was still signing when he died, but fancier than his signature in the 1930's.

4) James Smith - not a big name, but one of 6 Olympians born in my hometown. Five are still living, but he would be the toughest to find due to the common name.

5)
&
6) The gold medal baskeball team. Includes Hall of Famers Bill Russell, K.C. Jones and Bruce Drake. All of the signatures on the first page are legitimate. The second page includes at least 3 non-malicious 'signed by others' signatures. The Gib Ford on the second page is not his signature, 1st page is. I have a letter out to Ron Tomsic (2nd signature) asking if that is his writing. The Bob "Jeanjerard" is misspelled. His last name is Jeangerard, but pronounced like it is signed. The second Bill Evans is not his signature and is signed 'Bll'. The Jim Walsh signature is rarer than a vintage Bill Russell as he died in 1976. The second page also includes two of the three amatuer male double gold medalists in basketball Burdette Haldorson (1956 & 1960) and Bill Hougland (1952 & 1956) though I suspect the Hougland may be signed by another as his name appears to be misspelled.

Michael,
I agree with you that this is quite an exceptional autograph album. Wow!
The Jesse Owens sig is beautiful. The poem by the boxer is a classic.
Congrats on your pickup.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by earlywynnfan

That's a fantastic pic, Scott!

Thanks Ken!

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by bender07

Wow great pickup Scott. Where do you find those wonderful sigs? (Channeling my inner Joker)

Thanks Mark! I suppose tenacious networking and good timing are allowing me to have a great 2013 for finding rare early no-hit pitcher sigs.

It's funny though, but when it rains it definitely pours. It's very unusual for me to find 3 exceptionally hard names off of my list in such short order. I haven't even chosen to share my most amazing find of the year thanks to this year's National...

[mr2686]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

Thanks Mark! I suppose tenacious networking and good timing are allowing me to have a great 2013 for finding rare early no-hit pitcher sigs.

It's funny though, but when it rains it definitely pours. It's very unusual for me to find 3 exceptionally hard names off of my list in such short order. I haven't even chosen to share my most amazing find of the year thanks to this year's National...

Great pickup Scott. Well?...are you gonna leave us hanging? What's the amazing pickup from the National? C'mon, you can tell us!

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by mr2686

Great pickup Scott. Well?...are you gonna leave us hanging? What's the amazing pickup from the National? C'mon, you can tell us!

Well Mike, since you asked...

At the National I picked up a true Holy Grail item for my collection.
The only known example of no-hit pitcher George W. Bradley's signature.

"Grin" Bradley is credited with throwing the first ever National League (and ML) no-hitter in 1867. It's important to note that Bradley threw the no-hitter from the initial mound distance of 50', not the current standard of 60' 6" that was adopted in 1893.

Bradley also is credited with being the 1st pitcher in either the NL or AL (established in 1901) to throw a shutout. Bradley's 1876 season was also special for the fact that he actually threw 16 shutouts, which is a ML record that he still shares with HOF'er Grover Cleveland Alexander. Bradley pitched approximately 65 times in 1876 and actually won 45 of those games, leading the NL with an ERA of about 1.23.

[mr2686]

Holy guacamole Batman, that's incredible!!! Is that Bradley from a letter, or legal document? Were you actually looking for it, or did you just happen to see it and freak out?

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by mr2686

Holy guacamole Batman, that's incredible!!! Is that Bradley from a letter, or legal document? Were you actually looking for it, or did you just happen to see it and freak out?

Mike,
Thanks! It's from an entire letter. Provenance is exceptional.

BTW, the person that sold it to me knows exactly what I collect and asked that stop by to see him at the National.

It's truly an amazing piece that's absolutely right up my alley!

[bender07]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

Mike,
Thanks! It's from an entire letter. Provenance is exceptional.

BTW, the person that sold it to me knows exactly what I collect and asked that stop by to see him at the National.

It's truly an amazing piece that's absolutely right up my alley!

Wow, really amazing. According to B-R.com, he actually had 16 shutouts in 1876. The year of the Centennial of the US...hard to fathom that.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

Well Mike, since you asked...

At the National I picked up a true Holy Grail item for my collection.
The only known example of no-hit pitcher George W. Bradley's signature.

"Grin" Bradley is credited with throwing the first ever National League no-hitter in 1867. It's important to note that Bradley threw the no-hitter from the initial mound distance of 50', not the current standard of 60' 6" that was adopted in 1893.

Bradley also is credited with being the 1st pitcher in either the NL or AL (established in 1901) to throw a shutout. Bradley's 1876 season was also special for the fact that he actually threw 16 shutouts, which is a ML record that he still shares with HOF'er Grover Cleveland Alexander. Bradley pitched approximately 65 times in 1876 and actually won 45 of those games, leading the NL with an ERA of about 1.23.

That's great - congratulations.

Do you have a publicly-viewable list of your no-hitter autographs? or better still, pics?

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Runscott

That's great - congratulations.

Do you have a publicly-viewable list of your no-hitter autographs? or better still, pics?

Thanks Scott! Not at this time on either.
This is one of several larger projects I would like to tackle at some point...

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

Thanks Scott! Not at this time on either.
This is one of several larger projects I would like to tackle at some point...

After seeing your last two pick-ups, I figured there must be some real eye-openers in your collection. I'm not an autograph collector, but there are a few I keep my eyes open for.

[Runscott]

Okay Shelly, but if he makes it into a shoe I am going to be pissed.

[HOF Auto Rookies]

Not a rookie, but earliest signed card I can get now until another surfaces.

This makes it my third signed E-AC card, I love this set. Great looking cards and great action shots as well.