2022 hof
 

https://baseballhall.org/news/era-co...-consideration
With the eras committee announcing hof candidates,(see above article), I am wondering of the negro leaguers, besides O'Neil and Minoso of the other 6 in the above listed article which autographs are not super tough or impossible? Thanks for your input
The Early Baseball Era ballot includes Bill Dahlen, John Donaldson, Bud Fowler, Vic Harris, Grant “Home Run” Johnson, Lefty O’Doul, Buck O’Neil, Dick “Cannonball” Redding, Allie Reynolds and George “Tubby” Scales. All of these candidates are deceased

They are all tough. I know of one Redding, that is owned by a member here. I have never seen a Donaldson for sale since the Heritage offering in 2010. I think Rhys once owned a Bud Fowler signed letter, but it is now at the Negro League HOF. I do not know of a Johnson autograph in public. I haven’t seen a Scales autograph offers in the last 5 years, and I jumped on the one of 2 autographs of Harris have seen offers for sale in the last 5 years. I would equal Scales and Harris rarity to Willie Foster.

I feel there are more out there-especially for Scales and Harris, but collectors (including me) horde the negro league autographs once we get them.

Would love for Jim Stinson to jump in on this.

All of the Negro Leaguers are tough . In my collection before downsizing I had a John Donaldson , the George “ Tubby “ Scales autograph used as an example in Kevin Keatong’s book on Negro League autographs , and I owned 2 Vic Harris autographs . I know of the Redding that Frank referenced . I looked for a Bud Fowler and Grant Johnson for 25 years with no success in buying one until I decided to downsize my autograph collection .
I thought I remembered a Grant “Home Run “ Johnson cabinet photo possibly signed by Johnson on the reverse in a Hunt Auctions from many years ago . I was the underbidder on the item because of the uncertainty of this signature being his signature or not and because of this I did not want to spend the money beyond $6000. It sold for $6000 .

Here’s the catalog listing and a link to the photo of the item :

February 25th and 26th, 2005
LOT #
1125
Grant "Home Run" Johnson cabinet photograph with possible self identification signature c.1895-1898. Early mounted 4"x6" image of the African American baseball pioneer posed in a studio setting. Mount is marked by Crozier studios in Findlay, Ohio (Johnson's home town), reverse has period ink notation of "Capt. and Shortstop" denoting his status with the Page Fence Giants team of the era. Next to that inscription is a period handwritten signature and address, "Grant U. Johnson 820 West St. Findlay, O." To date, there are no documented examples of a Grant Johnson autograph making signature comparison impossible. That said it is certainly very plausible that the offered photograph is in fact autographed by Johnson. Note the usage of the middle initial (appears to be "U") which is not even listed in multitudes of reference materials including period publications. Johnson was an educated man and was rumored to have attended college. Along with Bud Fowler he founded the Page Fence Giants team in 1894 and went on to become one of the greatest home run hitters in Negro League history during the deadball era. Mount has a small corner chip and a corner crease. Very rare period image which is very possibly autographed on the back by Johnson: EX ($2,000.00-$3,
https://www.huntauctions.com/imgfeb05/1125.jpg

Here is my 1929 Dick Redding signed contract. I definitely think he warrants HOF entry.

I've been looking for a Vic Harris for a long time with no success. Won a single signed ball on eBay maybe 6 months ago, but the seller said that they misplaced it and never completed the transaction. I think he's well-deserving of the Hall.

I just picked this up on Wheatland last week for the Manley autograph. I believe it is from the 1980 Negro League reunion as I saw a similar ball sold on Heritage in 2018. It has 17 signatures in total including Day, Dandridge, Johnson, Black, Irvin, Feller, Trouppe etc.

I figured a few of the remaining will end up in the HOF like O'Neill.

Attachment 486952

Jeff-I didn't want to out you as the owner of the Redding, I remember that sitting on eBay for a long time and glad it went to a true collector. I also remember the Vic Harris ball on Ebay sitting out there forever-weird that he "lost" it.

Jamie-Nice pickup on the Manley, you probably will never see a cheaper one ever sold again at auction like this (although I have seen signed books slip through the cracks for under $100).

There WAS a Josh Donaldson signed baseball with no COA (but looked legit) for a while on eBay for $99k, than reduced to $65k. I see seller took it down recently and don't see that it actually sold.

For reference, here is my Harris that I picked up this past summer. To me, he and Redding are no-brainers, but what do I know.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds

I appreciate that!

I'm not sure what happened on the Harris ball, but it was up there forever and I won it long before the recent announcements, so I hope he was being honest.

That's a beautiful check!

I'm with you on the Redding and Harris. When I first realized Harris was not in the Hall, he was the singular biggest surprise for me. Unlike with players where it is not always easy to assess where they rank amongst other players, Harris's overwhelming number of championships seems like it should be an easy, single 'stat' to warrant induction.

Yes, plus now that the Negro Leagues are a major league-he has the highest winning % of ANY major league manager with more than 500 wins. His winning % is .663, next highest in Joe McCarthy at .615

There is a poll going in the main forum, and he is getting no love.

Managers always seem to be overlooked, especially on our main forum during polls. Murtaugh is getting no love either, and he has a better winning percentage than several hall of fame managers...and his 2 world series wins is more than a few as well. Wish I had a crystal ball to see who was actually going in this time around.

Nice appearance on Golden Age of Cardboard.

Thanks, didn’t realize it is up yet. Tried to be fair to all negro candidates.

Good information and opinions. Very good mix of baseballs and collecting.

I was all prepared to be mad that I sold my Bud Fowler letter a few years too early if he gets into the Hall of Fame, but now I feel good knowing it is in the Negro League Hall of Fame. That is probably where it belongs so that will take some of the sting out of it :)

Would love to know history of letter and any pictures if you still have them. I believe it was to Comisky-but that is all I know.

It was in one of Charles Comiskey's scrapbooks. Folded up and tucked in there. PSA had the letter for several months doing research on it and passed it. It was a no brainer (baseball content and return address from Fowler's town in New York) but with no known autographs they were searching for some handwriting to be safe to compare it too and finally found something from what I was told. It was awesome but I do not know if I even bothered to scan it before I sold it.

I found this in my collection when I was checking for Early Era ballot nominees autographs . I knew I had one and thought I’d sold it but couldn’t find it right away . Sorry it flipped on me . I’ll correct it later

Of course you have one 😀

Corrected photo of my Donaldson