Hank Aaron 1st Hit/Run/Home Game Program Owned By Bob Botz

[pherbener]

Wow! That's a great piece!! I couldn't find any programs but a ticket stub PSA Authentic sold for $500 last year.

[MCyganik]

I've been having fun researching more about Bob Botz. Apparently he has some notoriety with original Mets fans. According to several books written about the 1962 Mets he:

• Was hand selected by Casey Stengel as a "Youth Of America"
• Won the very first Spring Training game in Mets history
• Acquired the nickname "Butterball" along the way
• Became one of Casey's first cuts in camp
• When Mets fans at the Polo Grounds early in 1962 realized just how bad the team would be, they took to chanting "Bring Back Butterball Botz!"
• After being returned to Milwaukee, they quickly flipped him to the Angels, where he pitched 63 solid relief innings
• After the 1962 season the Angels flipped him to the Cardinals for another relief pitcher, Bob Duliba. But Botz seemed to have arm troubles and dropped off the baseball map after 4 AAA appearances in 1963.

What a career!

[WillowGrove]

As a Mets fan, i love that info. I didnt know about him!

The Aaron program is solid, first game the home fans got to see him, but the research is the fun part.

Thanks for posting!

[doug.goodman]

The opening day and Aaron firsts are the value of this program. The Bob Botz connection not so much.

The values on scored programs (is this one scored?) tend to be all over the place, leaning towards the cheap end, that's why I have over 6,000 of them.

If you were to put this one up on ebay for $100, I doubt it would sell.

If you were to put it up with a $10 starting bid it might go for over $100, it might go for $10.

I got Pete Rose's major league debut and first scored run game for $11. That one wasn't described very well, thus the deal.

My Aaron first career HR game was $370, while his second career HR set me back $32. Both of those were described perfectly.

Musial's career hits #3001-3002-3003 game was $4, with a so-so description.

As you may have noticed, the description is almost more important than the events. But not always.

It's a cool program, congrats.

Doug


PS - generally speaking, nobody cares about programs when compared to tickets.

[bigfanNY]

Programs get a bum rap. Tough to store tough to display and the older they are the more likely that they might need some sort of professional restoration or protection to prevent deterioration.
On the other hand Ebay has bought fourth an amazing variety and quantity of programs. In the past 2 years I picked up some programs that I would have bet did not exist. They are gems to me but rocks to most of the collecting world.
For early pro baseball 1871 until 1879 I would say there are less than 100 total programs (definitely less than 200). That picks up quickly as 1880's programs can be found almost all the time on Ebay and at most major shows. They were small mostly 2 pages and fit nicely in scrapbooks that were popular at the time. During the 1890's scorecards gave way to programs a few more pages and the size was larger. This led to fewer surviving. Players leauge programs federal leauge programs both very scarce as well as turn of the century programs early American Leauge tough. With most of the examples I have seen from Boston and Philadelphia. The paper Drives during both wars saw many early baseball treasures recycled.
I may never see the day when programs appreciate but that dose not take away one bit how much I appreciate them.

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by bigfanNY

Programs get a bum rap. Tough to store tough to display and the older they are the more likely that they might need some sort of professional restoration or protection to prevent deterioration.
On the other hand Ebay has bought fourth an amazing variety and quantity of programs. In the past 2 years I picked up some programs that I would have bet did not exist. They are gems to me but rocks to most of the collecting world.
For early pro baseball 1871 until 1879 I would say there are less than 100 total programs (definitely less than 200). That picks up quickly as 1880's programs can be found almost all the time on Ebay and at most major shows. They were small mostly 2 pages and fit nicely in scrapbooks that were popular at the time. During the 1890's scorecards gave way to programs a few more pages and the size was larger. This led to fewer surviving. Players league programs federal league programs both very scarce as well as turn of the century programs early American League tough. With most of the examples I have seen from Boston and Philadelphia. The paper Drives during both wars saw many early baseball treasures recycled.
I may never see the day when programs appreciate but that dose not take away one bit how much I appreciate them.

Exactly.

Except they are easy to store. Boards and bags, just like comics, which can be put into binders if you choose, or in boxes, just like comics.

[ibuysportsephemera]

Programs, Yearbooks and Publications have been the major part of my collection since the late 1980's. A conservative estimate of the number of publications in my collection is around 17,500 to 20,000. I love the articles, pictures and historic content.


Well said by Doug and Jon.


Jeff

[Scott Garner]

So many great responses on this thread!
Doug's advise below is next to gospel, FWIW.

The opening day and Aaron firsts are the value of this program. The Bob Botz connection not so much.

The values on scored programs (is this one scored?) tend to be all over the place, leaning towards the cheap end, that's why I have over 6,000 of them.

If you were to put this one up on ebay for $100, I doubt it would sell.

If you were to put it up with a $10 starting bid it might go for over $100, it might go for $10.

I got Pete Rose's major league debut and first scored run game for $11. That one wasn't described very well, thus the deal.

My Aaron first career HR game was $370, while his second career HR set me back $32. Both of those were described perfectly.

Musial's career hits #3001-3002-3003 game was $4, with a so-so description.

As you may have noticed, the description is almost more important than the events. But not always.

It's a cool program, congrats.

Doug

[bigfanNY]

One point I might argue is that a basebsll program being scored is most times the only way to be sure that a program is from a specific day. This is because scorecards are typically printed just before a visiting team comes to town and if they play 2, 3 or 4 games the preprinted lineup is the same. One clear example is Lou Gehrig's last game vs Washington. Same program for a couple games and scored copies from his last game bring a premium.
I have a Ruth Program from Detroit when he hit his 700th home run but mine is scored and clearly from next day when he hit 701. Would a unscored program be worth more because it could be from 700? That is part of the reason why program prices can be all over the place..