Longtime collector John Spalding passes away

[ethicsprof]

Very sad news. It is the loss of a truly distinguished pioneer in the hobby
My condolences to family and friends.
Barry

[Troy Kirk]

Very sad to hear this news. As a kid collector, I saw John all the time at all the early baseball card shows in Northern California in the 1970s and saw him later at a bunch of Southern California shows in the 1980s. I kidded him once that my friends and I all thought his prices were too high in the 1970s, but they pretty much stayed the same through the 1980s until he was one of the lower priced dealers in those days, and I bought a lot of cards from him. I saw him once at a flea market in the bay area in the early 1970s and I knew I had to get out early to those places if I wanted to find cards before he got them. He was a great guy and I corresponded with him a bit and even bought a bunch of his old hobby magazines from him. His "Always on Sunday" book is one of my treasured books in my bookshelf and I always admired his dedicated baseball research and writing.

[Rickyy]

Wow that's sad to hear... I always enjoyed meeting him at collector shows in N. Calif. I still have a 1914 CJ Cobb and 1940 PB Joe Jackson that I bought from him in my collection.

Ricky Y

[Bilko G]

always sad when a fellow collector passes away

rip John

[Hot Springs Bathers]

Mark thanks for news and the wonderful obit. I first met John by mail in the 1970s when he would write me each year asking afor a media guide. We then began a trading realtionship that lasted many years.

He introduced me to Dick Dobbins which led to even more great stuff and my introduction to the world of PCL collectibles.

Just last year John sent me a very comprehensice checklist to all of the different Spaulding Guides and a seperate Football Guide checklist showing all the known variations. I sent him an addition to the Football list last Fall but never heard back.

With Joe Cronin battling health issues my old "west Coast" connections have certainly changed over the years. Gosh, that just triggered memories of John White up in Portland, what a character he was!

[Bob Lemke]

John was a frequent and selfless contributor to the hobby's knowledge base. He was always generous with contributions to the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards data base. He epitomized the type of collector that built the hobby a generation ago.

[Wite3]

I too frequently spoke with John at shows in Southern California in the late '80s and early '90s...always free with knowledge to a young collector (at the time) and a decent price when selling! He will be missed.

Joshua