Who or what is Lew Stick?

[mybuddyinc]

I agree it is a "rib."

But, could it have been written by "Nuf Ced" the Royal Router, just above Tesreau signature.

"Nuf Ced" would have had interactions with Criger during his career, and by his name and antics, was definitely a "joker." Then Tesreau squeezed his name in.

BTW --------- UNREAL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jay Wolt]

Don't know the answer but that is one kick ass piece

[Bruinsfan94]

Originally Posted by mybuddyinc

I agree it is a "rib."

But, could it have been written by "Nuf Ced" the Royal Router, just above Tesreau signature.

"Nuf Ced" would have had interactions with Criger during his career, and by his name and antics, was definitely a "joker." Then Tesreau squeezed his name in.

BTW --------- UNREAL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with that idea. I think its 100% an inside joke between players. It looks like Tesreau's autograph was squeezed in after the other item was written.

Did you identify the others listed on your site?

[griffon512]

i think, as others have written, that the phrase is "slick stick, lew stick." lew is possibly a play on words - a replacement for the word "glue" in its intended meaning. if stick is referring to a bat (which most agree on), the context for slick and glue makes sense and reinforces the idea of an inside joke/play on words, with glue having the opposite effect of a slick bat. "lew" and "glue" are a play on words as part of the inside joke, with the misspelling of lew unclear as to whether it was unintended are not. basically the translation of the inside joke is "slick stick, glue stick" possibly making light of criger's inability with the bat as a friendly rib as others have alluded to.

couple other things that might reinforce the idea it's an inside joke. one other comical reference in the piece is "cheer leader." it looks like tesreau might have been the one to write "cheer leader." maybe he was in a comical mood, or was a jokester in general. i couldn't find many autographed pieces from tesreau but here's an example with an loa from psa: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jeff-Tesreau...-/371331540269

the composition of the "h" in the link above and in the "cheer leader" reference seems similar and has some uniqueness to it in its form. the composition of the "r" in the "yours" part of "sincerely yours" is more well formed and looks much more like the two "r's" in "cheer leader" than the "r" in "tesreau." might just mean that tesreau had different compositions for a "r" whether he was taking time to write a word out versus scribbling his last name quickly. an autograph expert could probably poke holes at this, but...

finally, i found that the nickname "jeff" is itself a joke. it was given to him by sportswriters in reference to the "half-pint" character "jeff" in the "mutt and jeff" comic strip series. tesreau was a big, imposing spitball (maybe the spitball was part of the inside joke) pitcher at 6'2'' tall. tesreau could apparently take a joke as he took on the nickname of jeff. here's a link to this reference on pp. 104-105: https://books.google.com/books?id=Rt...signed&f=false

alright, i've written enough quotations for many months and admit that there are a lot of suppositions in what i wrote but it's my best guess.

[iwantitiwinit]

I don't think slick is one of the words written. I zoomed in on the image and you can clearly see the transverse crossing the t in all three words. I think what is leading many people to think the first word is possibly slick is that there is spacing between the up and down on the "t" it is looped a bit. That spacing is most prevalent on the first stick however, it is also a bit prevalent on the last stick, but they are both clearly crossed.

If I had to bet I think Al's original guess is right it's Stick, Stick, Lew, Stick. Additionally, I think the handwriting on the signature does match the inscription, look closely at the thickness of the writing and the boldness of the writing in both the signature and the inscription the pressure that was applied seems to be identical. Lastly, I think Tesreau inscribed it because the signature and inscription fit neatly in the space indicating to me he planned what he was going to write, began at the top with his signature then completed the inscription. I don't think someone wrote the inscription first then he wrote his name in above. If the inscription was written first by someone else they would have begun it higher within the space not planning to have someone write a signature above it.

[griffon512]

an alternative and simpler explanation for the "cheer leader" is it was written by fred hoey (in box close to cheer leader), who was a broadcaster for the boston braves in 1930 and might have called the game (i.e., was a cheer leader for these old timers).

i'm still sticking to original premise that "lew" was an unintentional or intentional misspelling for "lou" as part of an inside joke. the inside joke is "slick stick, glue [lew] stick," probably as a play on criger's batting abilities.

fwiw, and continuing the reach , there was a "mutt and jeff" animated short called "slick sleuth" in 1926. as mentioned before, tesreau's nickname of jeff came from this comic strip.

[Kawika]

Al: What an utterly fabulous piece! It would make a great companion to the Boston Old Timers photo I bought a few years ago but unfortunately I think I will hang on to my right nut and kidneys instead. A year or so back I picked up a scrapbook of newspaper clippings that promoted the game. I just went through it to see if there were anything in there that might shed light on the Lew Stick thing but found nada. There was one article which included a letter from Criger to Howard Reynolds, the Boston Post sportswriter who was instrumental in organizing the charity game, in which he wrote: "There is one favor I'd like to ask, if it wouldn't be asking too much. I'd like to have the players of both teams autograph a couple of baseballs for me so that I may feel that I had at least some little part in their thoughts of that day which I'd give all of what little I have left in life to be there and participate in." Looks like the players went him one further and made up the splendid autographed poster. The scrapbook is in pretty delicate condition but I'll see if I can scan the page. I saw on your LOTG blog that you lacked info about Ed Cunningham and Joe Conway. I found Cunningham on Baseball-Fever.com without too much difficulty. He was a Boston sportswriter and was secretary of the Braves at the time of the Old Timers game. There was a Captain Joseph F. Conway who was part of a group who tried to buy the Red Sox from Harry Frazee in 1920. He looked to have been a player in the Boston financial scene. There were a couple of newspaper references via Google and then the trail went cold. May be your guy, maybe not.

[Al C.risafulli]

Hi David!

I should mention, because I've gotten a couple of emails and PMs about it today, that I did find the info on Cunningham and Conway.

Oddly enough, I did track down one of the signed balls from that day. It's currently in the possession of a nice guy in New England who, oddly enough, just acquired it. I met him while I was in Boston with the piece, exhibiting at the Shriner's Show a couple of weeks ago.

There is also a bat from the game that was given to Criger; it was used by Jimmy Collins in the game, and signed by 51 players. It currently lives in a private collection.

If it wasn't too much trouble, it would be great if you wouldn't mind emailing me some scans of some of the articles about the game, that might be helpful as I'm finalizing the description on the piece next week!

-Al

[dstudeba]

Holy smokes Al, you got that piece! Please put it away in a 2 minute auction so no one bids on it. (just let me know when it is starting)

[Leon]

Neat stuff...can't wait to see it

Originally Posted by Al C.risafulli

Hi David!

I should mention, because I've gotten a couple of emails and PMs about it today, that I did find the info on Cunningham and Conway.

Oddly enough, I did track down one of the signed balls from that day. It's currently in the possession of a nice guy in New England who, oddly enough, just acquired it. I met him while I was in Boston with the piece, exhibiting at the Shriner's Show a couple of weeks ago.

There is also a bat from the game that was given to Criger; it was used by Jimmy Collins in the game, and signed by 51 players. It currently lives in a private collection.

If it wasn't too much trouble, it would be great if you wouldn't mind emailing me some scans of some of the articles about the game, that might be helpful as I'm finalizing the description on the piece next week!

-Al