June pickup thread
 

BOB FELLER vs. SATCHEL PAIGE ALL-STARS 1946 BARNSTORMING TOUR TICKET STUB

I'm thrilled to have recently picked up this rare ticket stub from the very 1st game played on Sept. 30th of the historic 1946 Bob Feller vs. Satchel Paige All-Stars Barnstorming Tour.
This first game was played immediately after the regular season at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field. To put this in perspective, keep in mind that this tour actually preceded HOF Jackie Robinson's ML debut in 1947.

For those of you that are interested in learning more, here is info about the Feller vs. Paige All-Star barnstorming tour directly from the HOF MLB website:

"A historic barnstorming tour, with teams led by two of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, took place soon after World War II and helped usher in a new era of opportunity.

It also changed the face of big league travel.
The year was 1946 and the Second World War had only ended the previous September. While the 16-team major leagues – still a year away from breaking its longstanding color barrier – had stayed afloat during the conflict, many ballplayers who served in the military were heading home hoping the layoff hadn’t affected their game. Hundreds had traded in their baseball togs for military uniforms, maybe none more renowned than Bob Feller.

Feller burst on the baseball scene with the Cleveland Indians in 1936 before he had even finished high school. Arguably one of the hardest throwers of all time, “Rapid Robert” fanned 15 St. Louis Browns in his first major league start. Soon he was the game’s top pitcher, averaging 25 wins a season and leading the league in strikeouts from 1939-41. But the day after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the 23-year-old enlisted in the Navy missed most of the next four seasons.
It was while aboard the USS Alabama that Feller, a savvy entrepreneur his entire adult life, began to seriously consider a unique barnstorming tour pitting a team of white big leaguers against a squad made of Negro League stars as a way to augment his big league salary when he returned to the field.
“I had it all laid out,” Feller told William Marshall, author of "Baseball’s Pivotal Era, 1945-1951."
“I knew what I was going to do and I knew the people personally that I was going to have get the black clubs together – the Kansas City operator, Mr. (J.L.) Wilkinson, and Satchel Paige and many others that I wanted to oppose us.”

Bob Feller returned to the big leagues after three years in the U.S. Navy late in the 1945 season. After winning 26 games in 1946, Feller teamed up with Satchel Paige for a cross-country barnstorming tour. (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)

After making nine starts for the Indians at the end of the 1945 season upon his postwar return, Feller reclaimed his throne as one of the sport’s top hurlers in ‘46 with an America League-best 26 wins and 348 strikeouts. It was in mid-July of Feller’s stellar comeback campaign that he announced plans for a coast-to-coast exhibition tour featuring an all-star squad made up of players from both the American and National leagues and a team of the nation’s finest Negro League players.
Having obtained from Commissioner A.B. “Happy” Chandler’s permission to carry the tour beyond the 10-day barnstorming limit, the 27-year-old Feller’s ambitious plans by September called for a 27-game tour beginning Sept. 30 at Pittsburgh with the itinerary including stops in such outposts as Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Newark, New York, Columbus, Dayton, Louisville, Davenport, Des Moines, St. Paul. Omaha, Wichita, St. Louis, Kansas city, Denver, Los Angeles, San Diego, Vancouver, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and Tacoma. Feller even set a game in Versailles, Ky., home of Chandler.
Teammates on Bob Feller’s All-Stars included Bob Lemon, Mickey Vernon, San Chapman, Charlie Keller, Spud Chandler, Phil Rizzuto and Stan Musial. Satchel Paige’s All-Stars, among the top performers from both the Negro American League and Negro American League, included Max Manning, Barney Brown, Hilton Smith, Buck O’Neil, Hank Thompson, Art Wilson, Howard Easterling and Quincy Trouppe.

Satchel Paige was 40 years old during his 1946 barnstorming tour with Bob Feller but was still one of the biggest gate attractions in baseball. (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)

The Bob Feller/Satchel Paige barnstorming tour following the 1946 season made stops in 32 United States cities over 27 days, including a game at Los Angeles' Wrigley Field, as advertised in the Oct. 16, 1946, Los Angeles Times. (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

In his autobiography "Now Pitching, Bob Feller," the “Heater from Van Meter” wrote about the elaborate logistics that went into his planned transcontinental trek in 1946. No one had ever attempted to use airplanes to crisscross the country, let alone playing a game in the afternoon then flying to a second game that night hundreds of miles away.
“I had put together a full roster of players whose combined annual salaries in the majors exceeded two million dollars,” Feller wrote. “The owners of the teams didn’t like that. They said they were concerned about their players getting hurt while barnstorming. Then they really objected when they found out how were travelling. We were going to fly.
“That was unheard of for professional sports teams. They took trains. They said I was exposing their athletes to even greater dangers. But I chartered two DC-3s for a month from Flying Tigers Airlines. We had ‘Bob Feller’s All-Stars’ painted on the side and took off to play 35 games in 27 days. We were the only baseball teams travelling by air. No other barnstorming tours were doing it yet, and the major league teams hadn’t started flying either. We were pioneering the practice of a professional sports team travelling that way. Today it’s hard to imagine teams going any other way.”

Feller had a longstanding affinity for air travel, as newspapers across the country wrote about the then 22-year-old fireballer learning to fly in 1941. As was reported in The New York Times in Sept. 24, 1941, he had been taking flying instructions at Cleveland Airport for three weeks and had soloed for the first time a week prior.
“Feller is interested in flying for the sport only,” said instructor Don Patrick. “He has flown a lot of miles on airlines and had been thinking about lessons for the past two years.”
Having special access to an airplane that October came in handy for Feller.

Bob Feller was a licensed pilot and believed in the future of air travel for teams when he conceived his 1946 barnstorming tour featuring MLB and Negro Leagues stars. The tour was one of the first to rely on air travel. (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)

“The only two games I missed conflicted with a contract I had made to appear at a milk convention in Atlantic City,” he wrote. “We were playing in California at that point of the tour, so I flew all night from Sacramento, made my appearance in Atlantic City, and flew all night again to rejoin our tour in California.”
While big league teams traveling by airplane increased with the West Coast expansion of the Dodgers and Giants in 1958, trains were the dominant mode of transportation for baseball players for decades. After the first major league team to fly to a game, the Reds, who went from St. Louis to Chicago on June 8, 1934, there were sporadic flights over the next decade, but it not until after World War II that plane travel became common.
There were reports in 1946 that a pair of future Hall of Famers were paid thousands of dollars by their teams to not take part in Feller’s barnstorming tour that offseason partly due to the fear of planes crashing.

“Some of the owners objected to what I was doing so much they paid their stars not to barnstorm with me,” Feller wrote in "Now Pitching, Bob Feller."
“Tom Yawkey, the owner of the Red Sox, paid Ted Williams $10,000 to stay home so he wouldn’t get hurt playing in a game or killed in a plane crash. Yawkey’s counterpart in Detroit, Spike Briggs, paid Hal Newhouser the same amount.”
According to Feller, not only did he cover all the air travel, he also carried “millions of dollars of liability insurance if either ballclub, black or white, went down.”
Buck O’Neil, in his autobiography, "I Was Right On Time," addressed not only the air travel, but also the racial component involved in the 1946 barnstorming tour.
“I was looking ahead myself during the (Negro Leagues) series, to the biggest barnstorming tour ever, when Satchel Paige and Bob Feller were going to square off against each other with their own all-star teams in games all across the country,” O’Neil wrote. “I was excited to be chosen for the Satchel Paige All-Stars, along with guys like Hilton Smith, Gene Benson and Quincy Trouppe, because I knew I’d be making more money in one month than I had made in the last six. And I was excited to able to play against guys like Mickey Vernon, Phil Rizzuto, Johnny Sain and Stan Musial right after the big-league World Series.
“But I may have been most excited about taking my first plane ride, since both teams traveled in (DC-3s), just like Satchel had been doing for some time. That’s when we found out how the other half lived.
“I also felt that, even though it was black against white, this tour was an event that could have a real effect on big-league integration, because it took place after Jackie (Robinson) had proven himself, and if a lot of us weren’t that lucky, we could at least prove ourselves against big-leaguers in these games.”

In Fay Vincent’s book, "The Only Game in Town," Feller told the former baseball commissioner: “We were interested in one thing, making money. I mean what else is there; yes we put on a good show; there was racial rivalry, not amongst the players, but amongst the fans. And we got a few laughs, they’re great friends of mine. They love me dearly. I love them dearly. I know all the guys. We made more money in that month of October than we made all year round.”
By the time the tour concluded in California at the end of October, approximately a quarter of a million fans had witnessed this unprecedented tour.

Stan Musial, who led the National League with a .365 batting average in 1946, joined Bob Feller’s All-Stars after helping the Cardinals capture the ’46 World Series. He told the Sporting News he didn’t care too much for the tour’s one-night stands.
“Good money in it, though. I sure wouldn’t do it if we couldn’t fly. It must be might rugged making jumps on a plane. At least we get some rest this way.”
The tour was described by Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert author Timothy M. Gay as “the most ambitious baseball undertaking since John McGraw and Charles Comiskey dreamed up their round-the-world junket in 1913.”
The Sporting News, in its tour wrap-up story on Nov. 6, 1946, called Feller the game’s greatest “money” pitcher, estimating he made $80,000 barnstorming from New York to California that year. In the 27 days the tour visited 32 cities in the United States, 17 states and British Columbia.
“Sure, I’m tired,” said Feller, “but who wouldn’t be after travelling 15,000 miles? My arm is in great shape, though, and in a few days I’m going to settle down and relax for a couple of months.
“After all, you know a fellow is only young once and I’m going to make as much money as I can while I can.”

Great pickup Scott. That ticket is in great shape too especially for one that's 74 years old.

June pick up thread
 

This pennant finally showed up. Anyone have a guess on a time period of this. You don’t see the green ones very often.
Attachment 402849

That's a toughie! 3/4 size... right?

Pretty confident it's circa late 1940s - early 50s.

Great pickup!

Ring Lardner and companion piece.
 

Picked up this odd ball snapshot of Ring Lardner in a White Sox uniform during spring training around 1915 from a board member a while back. Just recently grabbed this early 1900`s Edison phono tube recording of "I`m forever blowing bubbles", to match with the photo. The photo/recording makes me think of the movie "Eight Men Out" and the train scene when Ring breaks into song. Nice stuff boys, keep it coming.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b1f64ef5_c.jpgFunky snapshot, author Ring Lardner at W Sox camp. 1916 by Hugh Murphy, on Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a7816666_c.jpgUntitled by Hugh Murphy, on Flickr

June is shaping up nicely
 

It’s only 3 days in and June is looking to my best collecting month in a long time.

Not even my favourite items that I expect this month (will be back to post) but pretty cool and scarce nonetheless.

1967 NHL Stanley Cup Finals stubs from Toronto. For those not up on hockey - the game is a BIG deal in Toronto, and these are from the last Cup winner for the Leafs. Have never held even one of these before let alone the Cup
Clincher.

1964 Stanley Cup finals, Game 4 stub and program (with a period-correct Gordie Howe auto) from Detroit.

Great pickup!
 

Congrats on a great pickup! I love learning about baseball's barnstorming days, and seeing memorabilia from this era. The research brings these relics to life. Thanks for sharing!

Mark: thanks for the info. It is 3/4 pennant.

Because perezfan wanted to see....

I've been searching for this stupid postcard (showing red chairs) for 25 years. I have had the yellow chair/cocktail lounge version for a long time. Unlike the myriad postcards of early Candlestick Park, this one was not sold at every drugstore and Five & Dime in SF. This is one year only; sold or handed out in the Stadium Club and has the Giants' 1961 home schedule. Alwaays nice to delete an ebay search!

Forgive me for posting this on multiple June pickup threads, but I'm pretty excited about this one! To my knowledge it's the first time one of these has changed hands in almost a decade.

Great postcards Rob... Those just scream early sixties.

Very cool that you finally found the missing version!

25 years is a long time. Very gratifying to hear that you fulfilled that search. What is next?

I think I still have 82 ebay searches. :rolleyes:

Rob:

If another of those Willie Mays Desk Sets ever comes up as a result of your searching, please shoot me a note. Would love to finally land one of those.

Just a sorry request from a 4-time under-bidder. :o

Ok in my house that's a mike drop moment!

Picked up this 1930's illustration of former Gator Johnny Burnett. It appears to be cut out of a German newspaper. If any of you know more about this I would love to hear it.

Some purchases https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...3bc7a56407.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0aacac92a8.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b2bba9352b.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...871074e639.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b35c1ead1c.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Feller Magazines
 

Picked up two seldom-seen magazines for my Bob Feller / Cleveland Baseball Magazines Collections

Jason,
Both of these are excellent Feller magazine covers. Congrats!

That's a great feeling. Nice find!

a bat
 

Not many people would be all that excited about getting a George Grantham bat, but I am. I collect bats from the Pirates teams of the 1920's, and "Boots" Grantham was key to those teams. 26 years ago, when I was just starting out, I had the chance to buy a pro-model Grantham bat. But the dealer wanted $75 more than usual for it, so I didn't pull the trigger right away. He sold it quickly, and I promised myself I'd get the next one that I could. So, I kept my promise and got one ---26 years down the road!

You should be excited Mark -- that's a beautiful bat!

Greg

Great bat Mark! Love the look of it

Toronto Maple Leafs AAA
 

Picked up a grail item!

1959 tagged Toronto Maple Leafs AAA jersey and 1960 tagged pants.

Possibly attributed to Bobby Tiefenauer.

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/4a537d01

Bobby Gene Tiefenauer (October 10, 1929 – June 13, 2000) was an American professional baseball player and coach. A knuckleball relief pitcher, he pitched for six Major League teams during a ten-year MLB career that stretched between 1952 and 1968: the St. Louis Cardinals (1952, 1955, 1961), Cleveland Indians (1960, 1965–67), Houston Colt .45s (1962), Milwaukee Braves (1963–65), New York Yankees (1965) and Chicago Cubs (1968). Tiefenauer was born in Desloge, Missouri; he threw and batted right-handed.

Awesome jersey, Chris. Congrats!

Here are a few caps I recently picked up. The teams are the 1939 American Association All-Stars, 1950 Cardinals and 1959 Redlegs ...

Chris - Awesome AA All-Stars cap! This missing piece to the uniform I own. So cool to see it! I also own the program and team-signed all-stars baseball from that game.

Chris - Beautiful uniform! Congrats on your pick up!

This isn’t valuable, but someone got a color pic of a 56 Jackie and turned it into a paperweight.

Also, Robin Roberts. Personal certificate from State of Illinois for WWII service!

If I ever decide to part with it, I will be sure to contact you first.

Been looking for one of these for awhile.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...df4cb20e79.jpg

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Beauty! what is it made of?

My understanding is that its a gypsum cast and hand painted bronze finish.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Great bust!
For me it was a lot of paper at the flea market and the Joe C ad poster from EBay.

Greg

A lot of new items for me the last few days. I was happy to add all of these to my Olympic photography archives.

Press Photographer's Messenger Pass from 1948 for wrestling. They issued these for photographers and messengers. They were very specific and not like current credentials. I have two photographer passes, football (soccer) preliminaries and the water polo venue, and one messenger pass for pentathlon. They are all the same color, about the size of a baseball card and about twice as thick on stiff cardstock. I believe they were press punched out of a larger piece of stock.

Attachment 405264

This is a RPPC from the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. It shows Aileen Riggin of the U.S. and Nils Skoglund of Sweden. Riggin won the gold medal in springboard diving. She was 14 years and 120 days old at the time. Skoglund won a silver medal. He was 14 years 11 days at the time. He is the youngest male to win a medal in Olympic diving and the youngest male to win an individual medal in the Olympics. There are 4 women who were younger. I also have an original copy of the press photo of this shot.

Attachment 405265

A photo I am very excited to obtain. It shows Walter Winans practicing for the running deer competition at the 1908 Olympics. Winans was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. His father and uncle were engineers helping to build the national railroad. He eventually settled in England. A talented shooter, he had to pledge allegiance to the United States at the U.S. Consulate in London to be able to compete in the 1908 Olympics. He won two gold medals and a silver medal in shooting. He was a noted sculptor and also won a gold medal in the arts category at the 1912 Olympics. Art competitions were held at the Summer Olympics from 1912 to 1948. Winans is the only person to win a gold in both disciplines. Winans finally visited the United States in 1910. I had never expected to find a photo of him shooting. I partly expected to find a studio portrait from England since he lived and died there. This came from France and was taken by V. Forbin of Paris.

Attachment 405266

Program
 

Was lucky enough to come by this locally.....a 1946 Rockford Peaches semi final playoff program....can't be too many of these out there...Rockford only hosted 2 of these games before advancing and losing in the finals that year.

Picked up two new items this week. 1979 Chuck Tanner GU jerseys as well as an original Follow me to Forbes Field sign.

Both fantastic... especially that sign! :eek:

Do any of those Descente Jerseys still have the original name on back? I have never been able to find one that's all-original. The Pirates must've sent everything down to the minors during that era. Is the same true for your Tanner?

Great stuff!

Thanks! The Tanner has the nameplate was removed. I do have a 1979 Madlock that has the original nameplate still on it. Every other jersey from this era seemed to have the nameplates removed for the minors.

That's great... such a classic and killer Uni. :)

Last month, maybe, I picked up a rare lighter. I got it after a lot of back and forth with the seller. Here's a quote from his email to me:


Consider the following:

1. Probability of you finding this lighter in unused condition is 0%
2. Probably of you finding this lighter in next 3 years given the fact this was a regional giveaway is 10%
3. Probability I will reduce my offer from$400 to $225 to make you feel like you are getting a deal is 0%.
4. Probability you can buy lighter today at $250 is 100%.

Well, guess what? My zero and 10% chances hit 100%. I got another, in absolutely brand new condition for less money. I've sold the one I got last month at a loss but I'm still happy with the price of the new one, even considering the loss.

Been eyeing this for a while and the guy finally decided to let it go. Glenn Davis All America Board of Football certificate from his Heisman season of 1946. Signed by Jeff Cravath (d. 1953), Ray Eliot (d. 1980), Christy Walsh (d. 1955), Bernie Bierman (d. 1977), Glenn “Pop” Warner (d. 1954) and Andy Kerr (d. 1969).

Nice!

Unless an item is actually unique there is ALWAYS another one out there somewhere. The chase is the fun part, the catch is great, and then it's on to the next one.

Mounties cap
 

Having a great month!

Added a PCL 1960’s Vancouver Mounties game cap this week. Attributed to (and signed by) Ossie Chavarria

Osvaldo Chavarría Quijano (born August 5, 1937, Colón, Panama) is a former Major League Baseball player. When he made his major league debut with the Kansas City Athletics on April 14, 1966, he became the thirteenth Panamanian born baseball player to make it to the majors.

Chavarría lied about his age, claiming to have been born in 1940 when he originally signed as an amateur free agent with the Chicago Cubs in 1959. After one season with the Cubs organization, he was acquired by the A's in a minor league transaction prior to the 1960 season. He made his major league debut in left field against the Minnesota Twins at Metropolitan Stadium, and was held hitless by Jim Kaat in four at-bats. Over his two major league seasons, Chavarría also played first, second, third base and shortstop.

Chavarría was still with the Athletics organization when they moved to Oakland, California prior to the start of the 1968 season. He was traded to the New York Yankees with Danny Cater for Al Downing and Frank Fernández prior to the start of the 1970 season. After two seasons with the Yankees' International League affiliate, the Syracuse Chiefs, Chavarría was dealt to Mexico City Tigers of the Mexican League for Celerino Sanchez.

After retiring as a player, Chavarría became an umpire. He worked in the minor leagues, including the Northwest League, and college games. He has also umpired numerous international events, including the 1992 Olympics, the Baseball World Cup, Pan American Games and Intercontinental C

That sign is awesome. I have always wanted one. Did you see the one in the Lelands auction last night?
https://auction.lelands.com/bids/bidplace?itemid=98407

I have the original negative for this photo. A print would make a cool companion piece. If you want a copy PM me your address.

I knew Mike would dig that!!

Ossie
 

Great Ossie cap, Chris. Congrats!

Ossie
 

Great Ossie cap, Chris. Congrats!

This just arrived. I upgraded my 1971 Roberto Clemente Brooks Robinson WSS Glove box. There are three of these boxes that I know exist. A member here owned this box. Out of respect for his privacy I wont out him. Nor will I reveal my insanity by sharing what I offered for it. I hope he knows how grateful I am. I have pestered him for two years and finally wore him down. He has been very understanding of my desire to own this box. I am more than than a little excited that he decided that it belonged in my collection. I sold my original box for a good amount to an advanced Clemente collector in Chicago. That took some of the sting out of the purchase. I have to believe the only way to get a better conditioned box and glove combo would be to buy a time machine.

Mike,
Seriously BADASS!!
Congrats, my friend. I love it!