July 2011 pickup thread

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

WOW! No pun intended, but July is off with a bang!

I just picked up a tremendous historically significant piece to add to my no-hitter collection:

A game used ball from the Red Sox Hubert Benjamin "Dutch" Leonard's no-hitter that he threw on August 30, 1916 at Fenway Park. The panel inscription was written in vintage fountain pen. The ball originated as a gift to a fan from Red Sox Chick Shorten. It has remained in one family's hands since 1916 where it was recently discovered in an attic find in upstate NY.

In this game, Red Sox lefty Dutch Leonard recorded only the 2nd no-hitter ever at Fenway. His teammate George "Rube" Foster beat him to the punch by throwing the 1st no-hitter at Fenway in June of 1916. This ball is a nice compliment to the only known ticket and scored program to Foster's no-hitter that I have in my personal collection. The Red Sox were really stacked with pitching during 1916. In addition to Leonard and Foster, they also had Ernie Shore and some left-handed upstart hurler named Babe Ruth...

BTW, perhaps some of you know this, but in 1914 Dutch Leonard put together one of the most incredible statistical pitching seasons ever recorded. Check out these stats:

In 36 games, Leonard only allowed a microscopic 0.96 ERA, and winning 19.

Now that's a season! It's a wonder that he ever lost in 1914 with an ERA that low....

I'd like to take a minute to wish everyone at net54 a wonderful July 4th!

Follow up note: I just received the 1916 HB Dutch Leonard game used no-hitter ball today. After now seeing it in person, I would have to say that this is one of my most favorite items in my collection. The ball is just AWESOME!!

After inspecting the ball up close, I believe that the extreme dark toning is possibly due to the fact that Leonard occasionally threw a spitball and perhaps "loaded up" this vintage orb with his preferred concoction of licorice and whatever else. Considering it's age (95 years), it's in tremendous shape. Definately a centerpiece for my no-hitter collection, direct from the deadball era!

BTW, Lefty hurler Leonard also featured an overpowering fastball and hard breaking curve in his pitching arsenal en route to helping the Red Sox win World Championships in 1915, 1916 and 1918.

I've included a couple of pictures of Leonard in 1916. The second one features him and his batterymate from the no-hitter Bill Carrigan.