World Record Autographed Baseball Collection

[mr2686]

Rawlings, thanks for the link to your site. Pud Galvin died in 1902 at the age of 45. Does anyone really think there is a ball, let alone one that could be read, of Galvin? From the article:

When asked if there was anybody he was still looking to get on a baseball, Dennis simply answered “no.” He recalls searching long and hard for a Pud Galvin baseball to finish up his 300 Win Club. Now he has them all.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by mr2686

Rawlings, thanks for the link to your site. Pud Galvin died in 1902 at the age of 45. Does anyone really think there is a ball, let alone one that could be read, of Galvin? From the article:

Mike,
It's a little scary, isn't it? C'mon....

[Tigerden]

I really got a kick out of the old lady showing off her pistol. Whew, how intimidating! If you have to pack heat and make your memorabilia room bomb proof maybe you should have a different hobby, like needlepoint or scrapbooking. Sorry if I am not that impressed. Why would you want to go public with your collection if you have taken all these security precautions to protect it from potential thieves? I assume the collection is insured and would therefore be protected in the event of fire or theft.

[Rawlings]

Originally Posted by mr2686

Rawlings, thanks for the link to your site. Pud Galvin died in 1902 at the age of 45. Does anyone really think there is a ball, let alone one that could be read, of Galvin? From the article:

No problem. And good question, I'll have to ask him about that.

Originally Posted by Tigerden

I really got a kick out of the old lady showing off her pistol. Whew, how intimidating! If you have to pack heat and make your memorabilia room bomb proof maybe you should have a different hobby, like needlepoint or scrapbooking. Sorry if I am not that impressed. Why would you want to go public with your collection if you have taken all these security precautions to protect it from potential thieves? I assume the collection is insured and would therefore be protected in the event of fire or theft.

I believe it's not insured, at least according to their interview. I'd guess the "vault" is actually more a result of his real life's work, which was related to homebuilding, but that might be a stretch.

Don't quote me on this, but I recall him getting interviewed by ESPN I believe, and there was a discussion about eventually donating some or all of the baseballs to a permanent display or a new museum so that the general public could one day enjoy this amazing collection. I don't know what the plans were but I believe that's still a possibility.

[timzcardz]

Originally Posted by Tigerden

I really got a kick out of the old lady showing off her pistol. Whew, how intimidating! If you have to pack heat and make your memorabilia room bomb proof maybe you should have a different hobby, like needlepoint or scrapbooking. Sorry if I am not that impressed. Why would you want to go public with your collection if you have taken all these security precautions to protect it from potential thieves? I assume the collection is insured and would therefore be protected in the event of fire or theft.

You're assumption would be wrong!

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/F...seballs-101811

Schrader insists that home’s security measures, plus the fact that he keeps some guns around, make it pointless for him to insure the collection.

"It’s fireproof, it’s bomb proof," he says of his showroom/vault. "If there’s a tornado warning, we come in here with a beer and sit down."

[barrysloate]

It may be fireproof and burglary proof...but what if an intruder puts a gun to his wife's head and says to him, If you don't open the safe I'm going to kill her? Seems like the weak link in the defense. Not good to publicize these things.

[Runscott]

I bet I have more autographed balls than him, that were actually handed to the player and signed in person for free...

2

[Matt Felix]

I toured the collection and wrote the article previously posted in this thread.

I am a little surprised there seems to be such a negative reaction to the video/story.

Dennis is definitely proud and a bit eccentric but that doesn’t mean that he shops at Coaches Corner or that he has a bunch of garbage. He was very nice, welcoming and happy to share his collection. In short, I found him to be a class act that genuinely cared about the history of the game. Something I think he has in common with many forum members.

I am not close to the level that many are on this board and I admit that there are many more qualified to offer opinions of the authenticity and quality of the collection, however I feel like some of the comments were unnecessary and petty.

Matt Felix