Your "White Whale" .... and will you land it ??

[Topnotchsy]

Not sure whether one can have multiple 'white whales' but I have a few items that fit that.

• I have been building a collection that chronicles Jackie Robinson's career pre-1947. I have something for almost every notable stop, but have never been able to acquire anything from the 1941 Honolulu Bears, and continue to search for something. I've only ever seen one ticket from Jackie's time there. (Crazy fact: Jackie left Hawaii 2 days before Pearl Harbor).
• Integration - In the offseason between 1945-1946, the Dodgers signed 4 black players. Jackie and Johnny Wright signed to play for the AAA Montreal Royals. Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe signed and would play for the Nashua Dodgers. But initially, that was not the team they signed to play for. Branch Rickey had them sign with the Danville Dodgers. But after signing, Rickey was informed that that the team was not ready to integrate, and a few weeks later, they signed a new agreement to play in Nashua. I have Campanella's 1946 contract for Danville and Nashua. I have been able to acquire Newcombe's Nashua contract. But I have never even seen a picture of Newcombe's contract to play in Danville and I think that it would be the final piece to tell that story.
• I have been collecting lineup cards for many years and have had the chance to buy some incredibly cool ones. I have MLB debuts of significant players, milestone games, World Series games etc. In my years of collecting I have found lineup cards with Gehrig, DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Mays, Aaron etc. One player that I have not found is a lineup card with Babe Ruth in the lineup. In fact, the only one I have ever seen was from the 1933 All-Star game and sold for $120,000. Lineup cards from the early 1930's exist (I have found images online from lineup cards as far back as 1931) so there is no obvious reason a lineup with Ruth in it should not exist. Would be an absolute white whale for me.

[Leon]

Interesting white whales. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Topnotchsy

Not sure whether one can have multiple 'white whales' but I have a few items that fit that.

• I have been building a collection that chronicles Jackie Robinson's career pre-1947. I have something for almost every notable stop, but have never been able to acquire anything from the 1941 Honolulu Bears, and continue to search for something. I've only ever seen one ticket from Jackie's time there. (Crazy fact: Jackie left Hawaii 2 days before Pearl Harbor).
• Integration - In the offseason between 1945-1946, the Dodgers signed 4 black players. Jackie and Johnny Wright signed to play for the AAA Montreal Royals. Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe signed and would play for the Nashua Dodgers. But initially, that was not the team they signed to play for. Branch Rickey had them sign with the Danville Dodgers. But after signing, Rickey was informed that that the team was not ready to integrate, and a few weeks later, they signed a new agreement to play in Nashua. I have Campanella's 1946 contract for Danville and Nashua. I have been able to acquire Newcombe's Nashua contract. But I have never even seen a picture of Newcombe's contract to play in Danville and I think that it would be the final piece to tell that story.
• I have been collecting lineup cards for many years and have had the chance to buy some incredibly cool ones. I have MLB debuts of significant players, milestone games, World Series games etc. In my years of collecting I have found lineup cards with Gehrig, DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Mays, Aaron etc. One player that I have not found is a lineup card with Babe Ruth in the lineup. In fact, the only one I have ever seen was from the 1933 All-Star game and sold for $120,000. Lineup cards from the early 1930's exist (I have found images online from lineup cards as far back as 1931) so there is no obvious reason a lineup with Ruth in it should not exist. Would be an absolute white whale for me.

[Epps]

This exact card. Have been underbidder twice on it and would love to finally complete the chase. If anyone knows the owner, I would love to speak with them!

Zeenut McMullin.jpg

[DeanH3]

For me it's a high eye appeal lower grade T205 Cobb that speaks to me. haven't been able to find one in quite same time. The hunt continues.

[Topnotchsy]

Originally Posted by Leon

Interesting white whales. Good luck.

Thanks. I tend to go down very long rabbit holes and my collection niches and white whales reflect that.

If you don't mind indulging me, a Whale that I actually did acquire recently is a perfect example. It is at the nexus of my WWII baseball collection and my Integration Collection.

In September 1945, after Germany had surrendered, the troops played a tournament in Europe that culimated with the GI World Series, a 5 game series which was split between Soldier Field in Nurmberg, Germany, and Reims, France.

In that tournament, the OISE team was integrated and included two future Hall of Famers, Leon Day and Willard Brown.

The OISE team won the series, and Day pitched well.

Programs from that series are (not surprisingly) exceedingly rare. I'm not sure if 10 have seen the light of day in the past 20 years. But one consistency about all of them was that they were unscored. And the kicker is that none of the players are listed in the program, so without it being scored, there is no indication of the historical aspect of the Integrated team, no mention of 2 future HOFers etc.

After years of pursuing this item, and acquiring almost ever copy I came across (became a bit of an obsession and I bought 3-4 of them over the years), a copy showed up that was scored from one of the games. Even better, it was scored from Game 2, which Leon Day started and won in Nurmberg.

It's not everyone's cup of tea but for me the combination of the game being played at a stadium previously used for Axis Power rallies (I'm avoiding terms that may get flagged), and was integrated a month before Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson.

There's a lot more to the story, but this was definitely a whale for me. I don't believe the Hall of Fame even has a copy of the program, or anything else tied to the series, though they do have a nice article about it online. This may also represent the only documentation of a detailed account of what happened in the game.

[mrreality68]

Lucky Enough to Catch my White Whale.

Deal Done.

Now Just Reeling it In...

Details to Follow

[Leon]

Originally Posted by mrreality68

Lucky Enough to Catch my White Whale.

Deal Done.

Now Just Reeling it In...

Details to Follow

Nice....not sure if we have seen it (yet) but let us know....

As said, I don't have any white whales now....I just collect things I like, mainly still type cards..

1936 Home Run Candy Cards...

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by Leon

Nice....not sure if we have seen it (yet) but let us know....

As said, I don't have any white whales now....I just collect things I like, mainly still type cards..

1936 Home Run Candy Cards...

Love these cards

And I have not posted it yet once I send the 2nd major installment at end of month I will post.

Jeff