Rarest HOF or superstar autograph?

[GrayGhost]

Who do you guys think is the rarest HOFer or Superstar player autograph from the say pre 1930 era. Take into account demand, scarcity, popular player, etc.

I have been reading a book on the HOF and they, (and I concur from auction catalogs Ive seen) feel Waddell, and Plank are amongst the rarest.

Of course, Joe Jackson too, (not wife signed)

Opinions guys and gals?

[henson1855]

I have never heard of an Addie Joss autograph coming up for sale,I would love to see one if anyone has a scan.In the past several years I have seen at least three Planks,two from Hunt and one from Heritage that i know of,and two Waddells,one from Hunt and i want to say the other one was on a cabinet card from 1902 but i don't remember who was selling it,i cannot find any info indicating that a Joss autograph has come up for sale at anytime in the past several years,maybe someone else knows?

[keithsky]

If you wait long enough Coach's Corner will have rarist one

[Wite3]

Joss would be up there...Ed Delahanty would be on my list.

[prewarsports]

Addie Joss. There are many known examples of most other 20th century Hall of Famers. There are MANY 19th century stars who were either illterate or there are no known signatures. Likewise, many of the early Cuban and Negro League players were illiterate or there are no known signatures as well of players like Pete Hill and Cristobal Torriente. There are 3 known signatures of Louis Sockalexis known to exist but they are all in Church and University Archives.

[barrysloate]

Mike Kelly is an exceedingly difficult signature among 19th century players. I would think Hoss Radbourne is near the top of the list too.

[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by GrayGhost

Who do you guys think is the rarest HOFer or Superstar player autograph from the say pre 1930 era. Take into account demand, scarcity, popular player, etc.

I have been reading a book on the HOF and they, (and I concur from auction catalogs Ive seen) feel Waddell, and Plank are amongst the rarest.

Of course, Joe Jackson too, (not wife signed)

Opinions guys and gals?

I just ran into Joe Jackson and his wife at Best Buy in Porter Ranch, CA not too long ago.

Sorry, wrong Joe Jackson. You must be talking about the Shoeless Joe and I'm talking about eye brow penciled mustached Joe, Michael 's Dad.

What about Roy Campanella. I used to see him on the old Club level at Dodger Stadium back in the 80's where he had a special spot for his wheelchair situated next to a single seat for his wife, Roxie I think right behind home plate? I never thought to ask for his Autograpgh, though my friend swears he has one from when I took him.
I must have run into him 100 times. I have one he did for scoreboard, signinging the front panel only while laying flat, and having the autograpgh stitched back on to the ball (They did this backwards though and the Rawlings logo is on the top, not on the right where it supposed to be.)

I also sat right next to Casey Stengel back in 1972 or 1973 at Dodger Stadium. He wrote "Casey Stengel from Casey Stengel" on the front of my program and "Casey Stengel To Chuck, Good Luck from Casey Stengel on the back". The old guy was losing it and he just was watching the game and scribbling on my program the whole time. It was with all my old signed Dodger Programs for years burried in a manilla envelope and boxed with a ton of other junk. That particular program was stolen and I'm not sure when or how? If anyone see's it out there, let me know

[drc]

I'd think Radbourn might be the rarest, or one of the top three, amongst HOFer and major star players where an autograph is known to exist. Delehanty is probably the rarest for players who played in the 20th century. King Kelly is very rare too.

[David Atkatz]

Have to disagree. I've seen a number of genuine Delehantys on the auction block.

But I've only seen one Keeler.

[barrysloate]

George Stacey Davis would be another near impossible HOFer.

[HexsHeroes]

.
.
. . . on the George Stacey Davis autograph being nearly impossible.

[packs]

What about Ross Youngs? Never seen one.

[lutherlafy]

Does anyone know of a Pud Galvin autograph?

[GrayGhost]

Coach's corner had a Youngs on a Giants ball a few months back, and a Galvin Cut recently.

Of course, if you are looking for AUTHENTIC Youngs or Galvin sigs, they are likely very rare indeed.

[prewarsports]

There are Keeler letters with his descendants. They may never hit the market but they are still there. I can say though that I have never seen an example. There have been maybe 5 Galvins hit the auction block in my time so he is rare but not impossible. On George Davis, he was unknown until he made the Hall of Fame but I think there are 2-3 known now. Bid McPhee is another rarity even though his late death date would seem to indicate others are out there somewhere. I would say Joss #1 followed by a bunch of 19th century guys like Radbourn, Kelly, Clarkson, Keefe etc.

That 1894 Ledger that sold in the Halper auction had signatures of most of these 19th century guys but that is the "Holy Grail" of autographs and it is not likely to hit the market again for some time.

As a side note, Pete Browning was illiterate but if you have the 19th century Baseball Encyclopedia Book they have a photo signed by Browning that was sent to a newspaper editor in an attempt to prove he could write. It looks like a 1st grader wrote it and it has since been thrown out or destroyed as all that is left is a photocopy.

In my opinion the most valuable autograph in the hobby would be a James Creighton if one was ever found. I think it would sell for 100,000+ but you never know. I never would have thought a Bid Mchee signed letter would be in th 75K range either!

Rhys


ALSO, There have been several (maybe 5-10) Ross Youngs signatures on album pages I have seen in the last 10+ years, and at least 20-30 on team signed Baseballs so he is Rare for the 20th century but not nearly as tough as some of these other guys.

[GrayGhost]

This is a great topic. Keep the info coming guys. James Creighton, yeah, theres one I didnt even remember.

Interesting aside on someone like say Joss or Creighton, if one did appear. We would be going even more "on faith" as there aren't known legit examples to compare to.

[MacDice]

I know he not a HOF or a superstar but as anyone seen an autograph of Eddie Gaedel ?

[danc]

I have seen three authentic Gaedel's in my lifetime. One on a Q and A card (Oser I think sold it like fifteen years ago), a beat up photograph and a government post card sized piece of paper.

As far as rarity goes, there are several (most of the 19th Century) that fit into the 0-5 known to exist category, "if that" and of course this is all debatable to who the most difficult one is.

Radbourne (Coach's Corner has a beauty this week), Delahanty, Galvin, Brouthers, Keefe and even Hill and Torriente.

Ron Keurajian is almost done wit the the mother of all Hall Of Fame Baseball Autograph books (800+ pages) and hopefully at this time next year, it will be available for sale...outdoing (won't be hard) the M.A Baker book.

DanC

[springpin]

I attended a game of the 1960 WS at Yankee Stadium. Someone pointed to a man in a wheelchair and said, "There is Roy Campanella!" I took my scorecard and ran to him and asked him for his autograph. His reply was, "Son, I can't even hold a pencil." I was 13 years old at the time, and remember the incident as one of my first recollections of shame and embarassment. I felt as if thousands of people were watching me return to my seat after this encounter, and somehow I was the only one who didn't know Campanella "can't even hold a pencil." From this post I gather that 20 years later he had`learned how to sign his name. I thought he was paralyzed for life.

[barrysloate]

Jim Creighton's signature would of course be a great find, but do enough collectors even know who he is? As I've mentioned a few times on the board, I live just a few blocks from both Creighton's former home and the Excelsior clubhouse; maybe I'll take a walk over there tomorrow and see if I can find any signed material lying around.

I once had two separate letters signed by Ned Hanlon near the end of his life. I wish I kept them. How rare is his signature compared to other contemporary Hall of Famers?

[Sean_C]

From what I understand, Campanella was able to sign later in life with the aid of a special glove that held the pen.

I don't know if he really qualifies as a superstar or not, but has anyone ever seen a Hub Collins signature?