October autograph pickups.
 

Let's see what everyone picks up this month. There's bound to be some very cool things.

Here are three pieces I've picked up in the last few days.

The first two pieces are Heilbroner Baseball Bureau information cards. Louis Helibroner was the Cardinals manager in 1900 and later opened up the first statistical bureau devoted entirely to baseball. The first of the two cards is filled out by MLB's first 30-homer, 30-stolen base man, Ken Williams. It was signed in 1914, a year before his big league debut. Here's the link to Ken Williams' page on the CooperstownExpert site.

The second is filled out and signed by Wes Ferrell as a 19-year old just before his MLB debut. Here's the link to Ferrell's page. Neither player's autograph is at all rare, but it was neat to find something from so early in their lives and careers.

The bottom image is a contract for Bill Dickey to appear in The Stratton Story" starring Jimmy Stewart as pitcher Monty Stratton who, despite having his leg amputated in 1938 at age 26, pitched in the minors until age 41. Stratton's page on the site can be accessed here while Dickey's is here.

Sorry the images are a bit uneven.

The years have passed quickly. I stared collecting high school and now all of a sudden it's been 35 years. Everything on the CooperstownExerpt.com pages is still in the collection.

A week after Herb Score was hit by the comebacker, Musial wrote this get well note
 

After earning the Rookie of the Year Award, leading the league in strikeouts, and being named to the All Star game, Herb Score looked like a star. The next year in '56 he was even better...he again led the AL in Ks, was an All Star and 20-game winner. The 23-year old seemed destined for superstardom.

Then he got hit between his nose and right eye by a screaming line drive off the bat of Yankee SS Gil McDougald. He was never the same.

Here is a get-well letter to Score written by Stan Musial just eight days after the accident. A neat side note is that the same day he wrote the letter, Musial tied Cap Anson for 6th on the All Time doubles list.

I just put the letter up on Herb Score's page on the CooperstownExpert website, and also on Stan Musial's page. The two pages have a lot of interesting stuff on them.

Thanks for looking at my newest addition.

The biggest pickup of my life. Thanks to Gecklund311 for 20 of these 21 (the Matthews is from Mill Creek Sports.)

They range from the common:
https://i.ibb.co/k3nWYSg/20191007-144459.jpg

To the slightly less common:
https://i.ibb.co/mXw1VFj/20191007-144548.jpg

To the uncommon:
https://i.ibb.co/h93W5HQ/20191007-144623.jpg

And finally, the biggies:
https://i.ibb.co/Pj0zj1S/20191007-144657.jpg

Being A Black Sox Fan.....
 

Had to have this Arnold "Chick" Gandil autograph. Got it some time last year but never got around to posting it. Do see "Chick Gandil" pop up every so often but have only seen one other "Arnold". From what I`ve read Gandil almost always signed as Chick even on official documents.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/154296...posted-public/

Very nice. How many of the 1919's do you have now? Do you have any others in your sights?

Hey Mike, thanks for the compliment . Have the usual suspects for the 1919 squad, could still use a decent E Collins or Cicotte but being a small fry on a limited budget have to bide my time. After that the harder to find players, especially the Big 8, will most likely forever be out of my reach.

A quick look at your link and I didn't see a Danforth or Shellenback (although I might have missed them). They're both fairly easy and won't break the bank. I've seen a lot more Cicotte's lately, so maybe you can get a bargain. Also, nice to see you have a Mrs. Joe Jackson. Man, those have jumped up in price in the last few years.

Love these 64 Stand Ups.Attachment 368747

Just added these today.Attachment 368748

Nice pickups Mike. The stand ups look gorgeous with sharpie sigs.

A few recent in person autos
Attachment 368799

Attachment 368801

Attachment 368802

Really cool!!

Sparky Anderson letter from 1954, long before MLB debut
 

Sparky Anderson began his professional baseball career as a second baseman in the Dodger organization. Signed by Brooklyn as a teenager, Anderson’s first pro season was in 1953 at age 19 for the Dodger minor league C-Level team.

Here's a letter written by a 20-year old Anderson to longtime Dodger executive Fresco Thompson in 1954. Anderson asks about the Colombian Winter League that’s due to start in mid-October. The youngster writes about his eagerness to make arrangements for a passport for travel. Three months shy of his 21st birthday, Sparky has signed his full legal name, “George Lee Anderson”.

Seems like an earlier example of his signature would be tough to find.