Baseball HOFers possible question?

[Klrdds]

For 22 years I owned the only verifiable Addie Joss autograph. It is pictured in Ron’s book . I bought it as a part of a deal to purchase Napoleon Lajoie’s son’s autograph book from the early 1900s in 1995 with 2 other well known collectors at auction. It still remains his only known unquestioned autograph.

[Klrdds]

Taz you are absolutely correct in all your statements on this topic , and yes the negro league HoFers still cause quite a bit of confusion even for the most advanced collectors . Ron’s books are helpful on this obviously but even there is sometimes a grey area with these . Especially since many of them aren’t on verifiable legal documents.
I had almost all the negro league HoFers at one time but at times even TPAs didn’t know and were confused about them .

[Klrdds]

All the names with an * by them I had or still have in my collection . These signatures are authentic examples as determined by TPAs or 2 well respected dealers .. I have examples of several others that aren’t marked because their authenticity is questioned or agreed on by a few TPA “ authenticators “ but not by a consensus of TPA authorities

Addie Joss *
Al Spaulding *
Alex Pompez*
Alexander Cartwright*
Amos Rusie*
Andy Cooper - No known examples in open market exist.
Ben Taylor*
Bid McPhee
Billy Hamilton*
Biz Mackey
Buck Ewing
Bullet Rogan - No known examples in open market exist.
Candy Cummings*
Cap Anson*
Cristobal Torriente
Cum Posey*
Dan Brouthers*
Deacon White*
Ed Delahanty*
Eddie Plank
Frank Chance
Frank Grant - No known examples in open market exist.
Frank Selee
George Davis
George Wright*
Hank O'Day
Harry Wright*
Henry Chadwick*
Hughie Jennings*
J.L. Wilkinson
Jack Chesbro
Jake Beckley
Jim O'Rourke*
Jimmy Collins*
Joe Kelley*
Joe McGinnity
John Clarkson - No known examples in open market exist.*
John Ward*
Jose Mendez - No known examples in open market exist.
Josh Gibson*
Jud Wilson - 1 known example in open market exists* I had only known baseball signed by him
King Kelly - 1 known example in open market exists
Louis Santop
Mickey Welch *
Mule Suttles - No known examples in open market exist.
Ned Hanlon*
Old Hoss Radbourn - No known examples in open market exist.
Oscar Charleston
Pete Hill - No known examples in open market exist.
Pop Lloyd*
Pud Galvin*
Ray Brown*
Roger Connor*
Ross Youngs*
Rube Foster
Rube Waddell - 1 known example in open market exists. This will be disputed by many, as third party authentication companies have passed at least 4-5 that I know of.
Sam Thompson - 1 known example in open market exists
Smokey Joe Williams - No known examples in open market exist
Sol White
Tim Keefe
Vic Willis*
Willie Keeler*

About 15 of these signatures are available and show up 1 - 2 times per year in auctions it just depends on how badly you want it and how much are you willing to pay . Most of the others listed trade hands privately and with no fanfare . I have seen or handled all but a few of these during the course of my 50 years of collecting. Many of the ones in my collection were the only known signatures or one of a handful known of these players .
The most I ever bid on one of these players was for a Smokey Joe Williams signed team sheet that was known for years in the hobby as his only authentic signature but didn’t appear for sale in auction until approximately 2 years after his election. I had been looking for his autograph since 1985 and had seen many forgeries during that time . I went to 45 K for the sheet but got outbid at like 2AM by a well known collector / dealer , who knew I was the underbidder and he then offered it to me for 80K the next week . I declined the purchase and it’s never surfaced again (about 20 years has elapsed since then ). So some of these signatures are out there and if you want to play this game to as complete as possible you’ve got to be prepared in many ways when the opportunity occurs.
As a said before I had the most of anyone when I stopped in 2016 but now Taz and I believe James Graham are neck and neck with their collections for the most HoFer signatures.
To address Taz’s comment about Effa Manley . I had 2 autographs of her in my collection . One was a HLS to John Holway , and the other was a signed copy of her book . Again she’s tough but not impossible and shows up every couple of years usually as an HLS , and these typically have great Negro League content . I recommend getting a letter from her for anyone’s collection. And yes Burkett needs to be added , he’s hard to find and commonly forged .

[JRS123490]

I agree that it's definitely possible to acquire some on the list I posted, I was just saying that unless you have the money and are extremely committed, there is a very high probability that most collectors will never own more than a handful of those guys. To be honest, and not to step on any toes, I don't see how any TPA could authenticate most of the 2006 Negro Leaguers, because there are such a lack of known examples to compare to. Unless they were purchased with an unassailable provenance (and even then,) I am just too leery on them.