Hall of Fame Yearbooks.

[stone193]

Hi Mark

Thanx for the writeup! That's more than I ever knew.

Very nice signed items. The '39 copy is classic.

I know you spent some time on this and appreciate the effort - good job and thanx for sharing.

[Lordstan]

Wow what are the Odds? Three replies all Mikes!

Well thanks guys. One of the best aspects of this site is the sharing of information. Just my humble contribution.

Best,
Mark

[mr2686]

All great Mike's think alike! This reminds me of my early years playing in a softball league. We were all friends and hadn't realized that our entire infield had a first name of Mike...that is until the first pop up and someone yelled Mike you got it

[scmavl]

Wow, very cool! If you decide to sell that signed '70-73 book, please let me know.

[Tigerden]

Mark Thanks for sharing. I always wanted to know more about these HOF publications. Years ago, I owned a 1957 red cover copy signed by Wahoo Sam Crawford, the year he was inducted. In fact, I purchased it from someone who lived in Wahoo Nebraska. I often wondered if the copy was owned at one time by a close friend or family member who may have attended the ceremony. Wish I did not part with it. Adam

[Lordstan]

Jarrod,
Thanks.

My collection of these began innocently enough with me getting the 1966 edition, the year I was born, and starting to get autographs on it.
Back in the 1980's, my father and I were dealers who went to about 40 shows per year. These older versions just weren't common to find. I then acquired the 1957 and 1977 editions. I thought they were just a great medium for autographs. At the time a lot of older HOFers were still alive, so getting them was easy. It also helped that in the early 80s Mantle and Dimaggio were $7 per autograph. The next event in the time line was a group purchase of about 20 of them at one of HOF weekend shows. From then on I was hooked. The ones in my collection that have no signatures have been acquired later. I just don't think it is worth it to spend the ridiculous auto prices today for group items like these, so I left them blank. Over the last 5 yrs or so I have added in the books from the 1940's.

Here is the 1966, 1957, and 1977 editions.







Adam,
That would've been an awesome book to own. Too bad you sold it. Now if someone had a Gehrig signed 1939 edition.....that would be incredible.


An interesting fact I just learned is that because Gehrig was a special election, there was no HOF induction ceremony and no evidence that he ever visited the HOF at all. It's interesting that it never dawned on me that there was no famous speech quoted from. One would think that given the emotional response to his speech at Yankee stadium, there would've been some mention of a speech in Cooperstown as well. I'm sure the sentiment from Lou would've been the same and equally moving.

Thanks all for your comments.

Best,
Mark

[Hot Springs Bathers]

Wow! Those signatures are impressive.

I started getting HOFers to sign the really nice coffee table book on the Hall from the 50th anniversary in 1989, the first year I made the trip.

After looking at your covers the thing that struck me the most after the "wow factor" was that you can read each and every signature. Today's athletes are tough. I read a statement a short time ago that Stan Musial promised himself that he would make every autograph as legible as possible.

My favorite current scene is watching the tennis players come off the court at the US Open and it look like they are just making a check mark on the items they are signing?

[scmavl]

Also, any reason Monte Irvin signed the '66 and '77 yearbooks twice?