"The Glory of Their Times" by Lawrence Ritter

[JimStinson]

Many times when Crawford would sign plaques he would sign the front and the back.

I remember buying a collection once that belong to a guy named Fred Arnold , he had a letter made up that said "The Fred Arnold Sports Museum" or something like that and he used to write to players in the 1940's and 50's asking if it would be OK to send a baseball for them to sign.

He must have struck up a friendship with Crawford because I remember there being at least 50 government postcards written by Crawford to "Freddie" as he called him. One was particularly interesting in that he told "Freddie" about his being chosen for HOF induction.

The return address where he lived was from a town in California named "Pear Blossom" and made a point one year on a western vacation to drive through the town. Just to see it , Not much was there then and probably why Crawford liked living there as he mentioned in his letters to "Freddie" that he much preferred it there compared to the "Bustle" of LA.
_______________________________
Buying and Selling Vintage autographs for over three decades
19th century and dead ball era baseball my specialty
jim@stinsonsports.com

[JimStinson]

Of all of the players chapters featured in the book the toughest autograph is that of Jimmy Austin which I've pictured here , Austin died March of 1965. As a side note Austin achieved lasting fame in one of the most famous baseball photos of all time. That of Ty Cobb sliding into third base, Austin is the player pictured fielding the ball
__________________________
Buying and Selling Vintage autographs for over three decades
19th century and dead ball era baseball my specialty
jim@stinsonsports.com

[JimStinson]

Cobb played hard !

[Bigdaddy]

I recently bought this book for my iPod (after reading the original several times) and really enjoyed that version. It is basically a recording of the tapes that Larry made during his interviews along with some introductory commentary. It does not include everything in the book, but you do get to actually hear the voices of the players and their emotion when talking about their teammates and baseball in general.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who has read the book.

[Jay Wolt]

Here's some "glory of their times" royalty checks which I have posted before on various GOTT threads

[scmavl]

Those checks are awesome!

The book (and the CDs) are some of my favorite baseball history ever. I keep it on my nightstand and pick it up about once a week, flip to any page, and just read for a bit. I'm sure I've listened to the CDs 15+ times.

I also have an older copy signed by Smokey Joe Wood.

[mcgwirecom]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

I recently bought this book for my iPod (after reading the original several times) and really enjoyed that version. It is basically a recording of the tapes that Larry made during his interviews along with some introductory commentary. It does not include everything in the book, but you do get to actually hear the voices of the players and their emotion when talking about their teammates and baseball in general.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who has read the book.

I second this! I bought it on audible.com and was surprised that instead of someone reading it to you, it is the actual tapes he made. Excellent book.
They are starting to get more baseball books out now. I listened to Walter Johnson by Henry Thomas (who I talked to at the National while I was listening to his book) I am now listening to The Big Bam about Ruth by Leigh Montville