March autograph pickups

[thenavarro]

Nice pickups Kyle! The guy you are buying those from must be a good guy!!

[esiason14]

He's ok I suppose

[stat192]

I just picked up 2013 debut Luis Garcia. Why is this significant to me? He was the last player I needed to complete my 2013 debut project. Now I have an autograph of every major league player who has debuted from 1946 to 2013. Thats 10,392 different players, thats 68 years in row. Now on to the 2014 debuts.

[gregr2]

Wow!!! ^^^^^

[Lordstan]

Originally Posted by stat192

I just picked up 2013 debut Luis Garcia. Why is this significant to me? He was the last player I needed to complete my 2013 debut project. Now I have an autograph of every major league player who has debuted from 1946 to 2013. Thats 10,392 different players, thats 68 years in row. Now on to the 2014 debuts.

Giovanni,
You're an animal. Congrats on that epic accomplishment.
When are you starting 1945?
mark

[Scott Garner]

Incredible accomplishment, Giovanni! Congrats!

[esiason14]

Lots of people collect HOFers, tough signatures, etc and have incredible collections....but you are the first I have known to have had such a comprehensive collection of baseball autographs. It almost seems impossible although I have seen many of the scans you have posted. It's a crazy feat. Just wondering how long it has taken you to amass 60+ years of players.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by stat192

I just picked up 2013 debut Luis Garcia. Why is this significant to me? He was the last player I needed to complete my 2013 debut project. Now I have an autograph of every major league player who has debuted from 1946 to 2013. Thats 10,392 different players, thats 68 years in row. Now on to the 2014 debuts.

Wow. I would love to see the Roger Holt signature.

[stat192]

Thanks for the replies.

Mark - I was going to do other years but decided it would be a better investment to collect signed Goudeys, Diamond Stars and Rookie Hall of Famers. So if you know anyone who has lots of Goudeys and may want to sell some let me know : )

Kyle - Basically took me from 2000 - 2012 to put this together. Now its collecting all the new players as they debut. Thats why in spring training I get more excited getting a minor leaguer on the 40 man roster, who has never played in the majors then an established star I already have. If you are ever in south florida and would like to see my collection, feel free to contact me

Alex - Even though Roger Holt only played a couple of games he is not that hard of an autograph. He actually signs by mail. If you need his address let me know.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Roger Holt was one my baseball coaches growing up. His sons and I have been friends for years. I remember him saying that people would occasionally mail him something to sign and it cracked him up.

[gregr2]

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[Michael B]

This arrived in the mail today. It is a menu from the S.S. Manhattan for July 18, 1936. It was one of two ships that took the U.S. Olympic team to Europe for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. It is signed by:

Ernie Crosbie - 1932, 1936 & 1948 50km walk
Al Mangan - 1936 50km walk
Harold Manning - 3000m steeplechase - 5th
Glenn Hardin - LSU star 1932 silver and 1936 gold 400m hurdles
Archie Williams - 1936 gold 400m. Also a world record holder at the distance. He graduated from UCal/Berkley. Flight instructor at Tuskegee Institute during WWII (the Tuskegee Airmen). Later a bomber pilot and retired as a Lt Col.
Foy Draper - 1936 gold medal in the 4x100m relay with Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe and Frank Wykoff. Set a world record and the first 4x100 relay to clock under 40 seconds. He ran a 10.3 100m in 1935 losing to Owens. Killed in action during WWII. His plane went missing while flying over Tunisia during the Battle of Kassarine Pass on January 4, 1943.

Draper is the only U.S. Olympian who died during WWII that I have owned. This is my second one, the first was signed during the 1934 AAU championships.

Interestingly I have owned signatures of a Filipino medalist who died during the Bataan Death March, a Japanese gold medalist and army officer who died on Iwo Jima (suicide), German medalist who died on the Russian Front, German medalist who died in a POW camp in France just as the war ended and a Polish gold medalist soldier and resistance fighter who was executed by the Gestapo.

[thenavarro]

Picked this one up tonight. Ronald Reagan wrote this to instruct his staff how to respond to general congratulation letters, kind words, etc. that he would receive. His staff would type up the reply and generally affix a Reagan autopen to the letters. Here's the original, all in his hand. Shows the attention to detail that Reagan had for this type of stuff, as well as an apparent willingness to micromanage the little things.

[Mr. Zipper]

Very cool and interesting item, Mike. Any idea of when this was used?

[thenavarro]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

Very cool and interesting item, Mike. Any idea of when this was used?

thanks Steve. My gut tells me probably as Cal governor but that's pure speculation on my part. Haven't had time to research yet. The next lazy Saturday I have I'll Google search until I find a typewritten match with date

Mike

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by thenavarro

thanks Steve. My gut tells me probably as Cal governor but that's pure speculation on my part. Haven't had time to research yet. The next lazy Saturday I have I'll Google search until I find a typewritten match with date

Mike

I think you are probably right. Likely not presidential, but not old enough to be when he was the president of the screen actors guild.

[tazdmb]

This one is a beauty, the example used in Ron's book:

[bender07]

Originally Posted by tazdmb

This one is a beauty, the example used in Ron's book:

Congrats. That's an awesome pick up.

[Scott Garner]

Here are two of four early 1937 rookie signed Johnny Vander Meer pages that came from a fan's depression-era scrapbook.

The guy that put this scrapbook must have been a true fan as Vander Meer still hadn't thrown his first regular season major league pitch when he assembled it based on the article contents.

Many thanks to net54's Rhys Yeakley.

[Runscott]

Scott, he's got Walter Johnson's 'J' going - I've never seen that before.

Very nice pick-up.

[esiason14]

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Scott, he's got Walter Johnson's 'J' going - I've never seen that before.

Very nice pick-up.

He sure does, especially the earlier ones.

[39special]

Picked up a few checks.No big names,but Roy Hutson played 7 games for Brooklyn in 1925. He was 4 for 8.A life time .500 hitter!

[esiason14]

Some really cool stuff this month! Nice pickups Scott and Steve

[esiason14]

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Love the haircut

[HOF Yankees]

got in baseball hall of fame autographs 41 and 42. 42 different and counting.



-incoming

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by esiason14

Some really cool stuff this month! Nice pickups Scott and Steve

Thanks Kyle! Great early Pedro sig, BTW.

[johnmh71]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

Great early Pedro sig, BTW.

+1

[earlywynnfan]

I'm really excited about these two, both came last week. Finally a Moe Berg! I know it's rough, but it displays as a single.

As for the Newt Allen, it's getting rare that I can add a NL single without breaking the bank!

Ken

[esiason14]

Very cool! I'm currently looking for a nice Berg as well.

[esiason14]

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by koufax1fan

Those Gateway cachets are always nice! Is Tom still at it in Florissant, Mo..
Phil

Thanks Phil! I have a few others as well. I find they tend to sell for a nice price, but still display very well.

I'm no expert on these, but I think they don't produce them anymore.

Cheers,
Blair

[Maddog]

Here are my March additions courtesy of Jim Stinson.

[bender07]

Originally Posted by Maddog

Here are my March additions courtesy of Jim Stinson.

Cleaned up! Nice stuff.

[esiason14]

[esiason14]

Hooks Tinker...former Negro leagues player and manager. Discovered Josh Gibson

[theshleps]

Congrats on all the stuff you are amassing. Great collection. I am not sure about the 2 latest Pujols. I have refrained from buying him. Hard to know

[esiason14]

Originally Posted by theshleps

Congrats on all the stuff you are amassing. Great collection. I am not sure about the 2 latest Pujols. I have refrained from buying him. Hard to know

Thank you. I agree on Pujols being tough to judge. I purchased them from a collector that I trust and does a lot of in-person stuff. I definitely wouldn't purchase from ebay blindly though.

One last new addition for the week

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Really nice Ichiro!

[gregr2]

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[gregr2]

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[Scott Garner]

Not a difficult signature overall, but definitely a cool check, IMHO...

Here is a TRIPLE signed Carl Erskine personal check to add to my collection of checks signed by no-hit pitchers.

Oisk threw two no-hitters, one in 1952 and one in 1956 for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Carl Erskine is one of the nicest former players on the planet, bar none!

[esiason14]

Erskine is awesome. He called me one time after I sent him an old photo to sign. He looked up my number and wanted to chat about that picture.

[almostdone]

Scott, I'm not a check collector but am a huge Erskine fan. I have obtained a few autos through the mail from him and he was by far the nicest and most complimentary person ive gotten. I wrote him a thank you letter and told him it wasn't necessary to write back. He hand wrote me a 3 page letter back thanking me for remembering him. He included a lot of personal information in it as well (ie, he wears his 59 WS ring, has 9 grand children and 4 great grandchildren, never kept any baseball things except rings, etc.)
Really nice piece. Congrats!
Drew

[gregr2]

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[esiason14]

Nice Rizzuto!

One of my all-time favorite players.

[gregr2]

Thanks Kyle!! That purchase is why I'm holding off on buying from you for a week or so!!

[esiason14]

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by almostdone

Scott, I'm not a check collector but am a huge Erskine fan. I have obtained a few autos through the mail from him and he was by far the nicest and most complimentary person ive gotten. I wrote him a thank you letter and told him it wasn't necessary to write back. He hand wrote me a 3 page letter back thanking me for remembering him. He included a lot of personal information in it as well (ie, he wears his 59 WS ring, has 9 grand children and 4 great grandchildren, never kept any baseball things except rings, etc.)
Really nice piece. Congrats!
Drew

Thanks Drew!
BTW, your story really illustrates what a cool guy Erskine is. Thanks for sharing that with us.