Baseball Autograph Book from 1941-1942

[bender07]

Originally Posted by muggsy

Musial is an interesting one. It's from spring 1942—so leading into his rookie season. It makes it among his first autographs. At some point then he changed his signature into his autograph with the classic 'S'. There are signatures, signed forms and the such, that also show him once signing this way. When he changed and how relatively rare that makes this is something I'm trying to find out.



As I know it's real, this is one I will probably look into authenticating in the best way. Luckily it might also be the signature in best condition and without others around it.

Nice early Musial for sure but his rookie season is ‘41

[muggsy]

Originally Posted by bender07

Nice early Musial for sure but his rookie season is ‘41

Well, I guess it's sort of semantics in how I said it. He played in 1941, but in only 12 games making 1942 his "rookie season" officially. But you could say 1941 is his rookie year.
What's nice about this is it was before the 1942 season. So he had only 12 MLB games under his belt.

[muggsy]

I just realized Mort Cooper won MVP in 1942 when this was signed.

[muggsy]

Now that the 1 left I've concluded is Gordon Pixley, all of the ones shown have been identified! 10 HOFers and the best players of 1942; quite a collection there!

If you check this out, I have All-1942 Team's #1, #2, or #1&2, at every position, including SP+RP. Top Pitcher & MVP. WS Manager.
This is fascinating to me, though I guess there's nothing to do with it but admire it myself. Maybe someone is a huge fan of the 1942 season haha

http://www.thebaseballgauge.com/year...=bypos&lgID=NL

[Topnotchsy]

That's a really cool piece.

Did your grandfather provide info on how he got the signatures? Not asking for authenticity purposes, but for the story. It sounds like for during the 1942 season he went to Spring Training or hit up a lot of games or something?

[muggsy]

Originally Posted by Topnotchsy

That's a really cool piece.

Did your grandfather provide info on how he got the signatures? Not asking for authenticity purposes, but for the story. It sounds like for during the 1942 season he went to Spring Training or hit up a lot of games or something?

I never got to ask specifically, but I know he vacationed a friend in Clearwater down there (and eventually bought a condo there, but not until much later.) So it must have been one year he was down there, going to a bunch of games or workouts to collect the NL teams that were playing in that area. (Otherwise, too bad he didn't get a Ted Williams or DiMaggio.)

Eventually my uncle (as a young child) got a hold of it one day and drew those red lines, and ruined the condition of the pages/book. Grr! I imagine my grandfather was agonized and furious. The Cubs players got it worst, despite being a Cubs fan living in the Chicago area. Interesting is that there are very few Cubs. Maybe he kept those separately? Luckily some of the best in here, like the Stan Musial, is in very good condition.

I find it so cool—but maybe collectors that have access to all of these guys in better condition don't find it as intriguing.

[muggsy]

I thought this was nice too...
For the All-1942 team, including MVP, Top Pitcher (no Cy Young yet), top hitter, WS manager, I have I have #1, #2, or #1 and #2 at every spot, except 1B...

thebaseballgauge.com

[Topnotchsy]

Originally Posted by muggsy

I never got to ask specifically, but I know he vacationed a friend in Clearwater down there (and eventually bought a condo there, but not until much later.) So it must have been one year he was down there, going to a bunch of games or workouts to collect the NL teams that were playing in that area. (Otherwise, too bad he didn't get a Ted Williams or DiMaggio.)

Eventually my uncle (as a young child) got a hold of it one day and drew those red lines, and ruined the condition of the pages/book. Grr! I imagine my grandfather was agonized and furious. The Cubs players got it worst, despite being a Cubs fan living in the Chicago area. Interesting is that there are very few Cubs. Maybe he kept those separately? Luckily some of the best in here, like the Stan Musial, is in very good condition.

I find it so cool—but maybe collectors that have access to all of these guys in better condition don't find it as intriguing.

For me (and this is just my perspective) there are 2 ways to look at this. One can view it as a collection of signatures (for which one can start considering the value of the individual signatures etc and work from there) or as a piece that captures a time and story in history.

For me a lot depends on how much story can be attached to it. The more specific and more detailed, the more (to me) it captures a time in history, and the story of an individual (as WWII created a shadow over the whole world) getting a chance to meet some of the great ballplayers of the day, getting their signatures, and experiencing baseball in a way that pretty much ceased to exist for a few years afterwards (and ultimately changed dramatically with all the changes that occurred after WWII, including but not limited to integration.)