Toughest 1940's & 1950's Baseball Autographs

[Tom Hufford]

I'll throw in another half-dozen real toughies -

Bob Katz - 1944 Reds - for a guy who played 12 seasons in the minors, he is incredibly tough to find. His 1962 death went unnoticed for years, and evidently his whereabouts after leaving baseball were unknown.

John Phillips - 1945 NY Giants - died in 1956; signature is virtually never seen, sometimes confused with Jack Dorn Phillips, who came later.

Howard "Dizzy" Sutherland - 1949 Senators - a DC cab driver given a chance by the Nats. Disappeared after leaving baseball. In the late 1970s, a Washington Post writer I knew did a small article on my search for him. A fellow who had dated Diz's daughter called me and told me where to find him - tending bar on the eastern shore of Maryland. I talked with Diz on the phone several times, he promised to sign for me, but never answered my several letters. I never got the chance to visit him, then I moved to Georgia, and Diz died shortly thereafter. Furman Bisher, who knew Diz when he pitched for Charlotte, told me that he (Dizzy) got his name naturally.

Herb Gorman - 1952 Cardinals - died of a heart attack during a game while playing with San Diego in 1953, less than a year after his one major league game.

Lino Donoso - 1955-56 Pirates - a Cuban, signed for Pittsburgh by scout Howie Haak in a Mexican whorehouse in 1953. After his Pirates stint, he only played one minor league season in the US, then went back to Mexico, where he died. He lived another 30+ years, but was never located by collectors.

Marcelino Solis - was with the 1958 Cubs for two months, which got him onto a 1959 Topps card. He didn't pitch in the US after 1960, returned to Mexico and disappeared. Good luck to any Cubs fan looking for the '59 Topps signed!