Favorite ebay, flea market, or antique mall find

[Kzoo]

It's usually tough to 'find' anything at most antique malls, but my Dad and I got lucky in Fort Myers, Florida in about 2005. I asked the guy working there if he had anything baseball related and he said, yes, but it's in the back room. He proceeded to bring out these seats from Crosley Field. They were in 2 sections for a total of 6 seats with figural ends on each end. The bad news was that someone apparently sandblasted the original paint off them at an earlier date, but there was some original orange paint hidden in crevices and cracks around the seat brackets (I've also seen the Crosley Field seats in green, but don't know at what time the paint color was changed?). Overall, the seats were solid. He said the original owner had lived in the Cincinnati area and had them shipped to Florida after retirement as evidenced by a moving company shipping tag attached. The price? $300. The cost to get them 20+ hours north to Michigan? The mall owner had a buddy driving the next week to northern Indiana who offered to bring them the extra hour north for only $100...........Matt

[scmavl]

Dan, that's a great collection. I love the '29 A's panorama.

[Runscott]

I can't believe I forgot about this one. I saw this on ebay and offered the seller $100. He took it. I had no idea that Willie Keeler was in the picture, only that it was a cabinet of an 1800's minor league team, so at the time a price of $100 was about fair.

When I opened the mailing envelope, I immediately recognized Keeler. I practically ran home to google the Bingos, and sure enough - there was Keeler's name.

I did not even have to hire a facial recognition expert!!!

[deebro041]

I did not even have to hire a facial recognition expert!!!
lol

[barrysloate]

Keeler played a full season at Binghamton in 1892, his first in professional ball. Is that on the list as his first appearance on a baseball card/cabinet?

[russyurk]

I hit an antique shop back home in Michigan a few years back when I was initially attracted by a photo of Dizzy Trout. It was signed at one point but the signature was so faded the only way you could tell was to hold it up to the light and you could see the indentation on the photo. As I recall it was priced at $120 so I passed. I then saw the Amos Alonzo Stagg photo which was priced at $18....SOLD! I'm not a big football collector but this was too cool to pass up.

[CarltonHendricks]

Originally Posted by russyurk

I hit an antique shop back home in Michigan a few years back when I was initially attracted by a photo of Dizzy Trout. It was signed at one point but the signature was so faded the only way you could tell was to hold it up to the light and you could see the indentation on the photo. As I recall it was priced at $120 so I passed. I then saw the Amos Alonzo Stagg photo which was priced at $18....SOLD! I'm not a big football collector but this was too cool to pass up.

http://www.sportsantiques.com/StaggD...aleBBPhoto.htm
Russ, How big is that Stagg photo and is that a real autograph? Yeah most people associate Stagg with football. He never played pro but he was a big name in college baseball....lead pitcher who took Yale to five consecutive championhships...1886-1890. I did a story on it which revolved around an incredible cabinet photo of him and Jesse Chase Dann, link above.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Keeler played a full season at Binghamton in 1892, his first in professional ball. Is that on the list as his first appearance on a baseball card/cabinet?

I'm pretty sure that was the determination - we talked about that photo for quite a bit back when I found it. I later sold it...and bought other things. That's the way it goes.