Vintage Baseball Memorabilia Show & Tell

I thought it might be interesting to show some of our vintage baseball memorabilia.

Here's an unusual item from my collection: A 1935 Gunther's Beer "Map of Sports Records". It features records held at the time by a number of baseball HOFers including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Connie Mack, as well as prominent figures from other sports such as Bobby Jones. Measures 20x14. I've had it for a while and kinda forgot about it. I really like the colorful cartoonish depictions of all the sports stars. I know Gunther's put out a number of sports related memorabilia items in this era but haven't seen another map like this one (I'm sure they're out there though).

Let's see some of your goodies!

I recently purchased this item off of ebay. The item was described as a baseball with "Christy Mathewson Day 1922" on it. The seller said she thought a fan wrote this on the ball but after research, we found that the signature was extremely similar to Mathewson's real signature. This is a picture of a genuine signed baseball.


Notice the similarities between the balls. Some main similarities are:
1. The c does not connect with the h.
2. The tail of the y goes down but does not come up
3. The 3rd time the m drops down, it passes the other two drops.
4. The cross in the first t connects with the m.

I believe that the reason the seller thought it was fan singed was baecause she compared it to signatures like the photo below. What I have found out is that Mathewson signed documents and letters differently than when he signed baseballs.



I also have reason to believe that this is not forged. This is because the seller did not sell this item as his signature. Why would a forger forge an autograph and not sell it as one?

After I got the ball I took it with me to Cooperstown to do some research. I found evidence that there was a Christy Mathewson Day in his hometown of Factoryville, Penslvania in 1922 and 1923. This is good news for me because the ball was found in a town not far from Factoryville.

Any opinions on it's authenticity is appreciated.

-Randy

It does look very similar...but, does the "i " dot in real Matty ball? It does in yours but i can't see if the genuine one dots?



Mark

If you zoom in very close you can make out a small spot but that might not be ink. The ink might have worn off also.

Very, very interesting Randy. I don't have enough experience with autographs to offer an informed opinion, but I'm looking forward to hearing from others about your Matty ball. The signatures do look strikingly similar and the ball has a genuinely aged look to it. Maybe you've come across a real treasure. Hope so!

8X10 Photo of Glenn Myatt given to me when I visited her back in the late 80's
He kinda looks like Woody Harrellson

Here is mine:



It is pretty similar to Randy's item, although mine turned out to be a forgery. Still one of the coolest items I've owned.

Randy: Very cool Mathewson ball you have. Good Luck on what you learn!

Turner E.

Thanks you guys for the kind words. I really hope that this comes back authentic when I submit it. A new question is, on a bunny scale of one to ten,how many bunnies is the ball worth if it is authentic?


-Randy

atleast 9 you rascally rabbit!

ullmandds wrote:atleast 9 you rascally rabbit!

It's pronounced wabbit!




-Randy

This is the story of my greatest find ever....Sometime around October..maybe it was late September I don't really recall...anyway it was a Sunday and I was supposed to go to my nephew's birthday party. He was turning one year old and I was not feeling well as I had a cold...I also knew that there was an estate auction in town that advertised a Winchester baseball bat in their sale bill so I told my wife that I just didn't think that I should be around such young children with my cold as I didn't want to give it to anyone...she agreed. ...so off my wife and kid went to the birthday party and off I went to the estate auction....when I got there I had to park about three blocks away because the auction had garnered a lot of attention...lots of antiques and advertising memorabilia listed....I walked up to the auction and immediately spotted 4 baseball bats on a table in the garage...I first grabbed the Winchester as it was the first label I saw...nice bat...next bat I picked up I looked and saw it was a Louisville Slugger...scanned down the barrell and just about crapped my pants when I saw the name 'Tris Speaker'....unfortunately I had left my cell phone at home so I couldn't call my brother to do a quick internet search...so I asked the auctioneer (who is a good friend of mine) what time they were going to auction the bats and he said about 12:30...it was 11:00 so I hopped in my truck and headed back home to fire up the internet...I could find no information on the net and nothing in ebay's closed auctions for a Speaker bat so I figured about $200 and I'd for sure get it as I have no "real" competition for baseball memorabilia at these local auctions...so I head to the ATM take out the money and head back to the auction...when I got there I got an uneasy feeling as I saw the auctioneer had already started auctioning in the front yard...he was in the back yard when I left....I quickly made my way to the garage though and saw the bats still there...WHEW...when they came up for auction the auctioneer pulled out the Winchester and I bid it up to $65 and figured I didn't want to go higher in case I got bid up on the Speaker I wanted to have enough cash without having to go back to the ATM....so the auctioneer offered up choice on the other three bats and I won the Speaker for $50....crap I shouldn't have stopped on the Winchester I told myself...anyway I was elated with my buy....oh yeah I also picked up a really nice Kiki Cuyler Spalding glove for $40...almost got it for $5, but I think the guy bidding against me was pissed about the Speaker bat and bid me up...he started bidding right about when the auctioneer was about to say "Sold". There was nothing else left for me at the auction that I was interested in so I paid for my wins and headed home...I hit the internet searching for anything I could about Speaker bats and couldn't really find anything so I took some pics of the bat and posted them to the Memorabilia board at Net54...immediately some guys started emailing me telling me they thought I had something really special...I took more pics and I contacted Dave Bushing and gave him the specs of the bat...he made an offer on the bat so right then I knew I had a gamer. I have since sold the bat to a collector.

I "found" this brick one night during the demo of Forbes Field. It is from the top of the left field wall.
John

slidekellyslide wrote:This is the story of my greatest find ever....

Great story Dan, thanks for sharing.

arandy wrote:Thanks you guys for the kind words. I really hope that this comes back authentic when I submit it. A new question is, on a bunny scale of one to ten,how many bunnies is the ball worth if it is authentic?

I've got my fingers crossed for ya buddy. Be sure to keep us updated as I'm sure many here are very curious about how this turns out for you. If the Matty sig is authentic, you've got a 10 bunny ball on your hands. Easily.

tbob on the n** board has a signed matty ball. you might want to try and get a scan from him and compare.

Randy
If your ball is a real Matty autograph, there ain't enough Bunnies here to satisfy that amount of Deadball Majesty.

Thanks again. I will keep keep you guys updated on the ball. I'm thinking of taking the ball to JSA sometime in January.

-Randy

This Harry Pulliam cigar label is in my collection because of one of my first encounters with buying vintage cards.

I was at a show at the Metrodomein the early 80's and came across a table with a guy that had only 2 briefcases. I found out this guy was Bill Mastro (no idea who he was at the time) and his briefcases were full of vintage cards. He had the Pulliam label and told me the story behind Harry and his suicide. It always stuck with me and when I got on Ebay I was able to pickup this nice example. I did buy my first T202 from him and a few other cards but the Pulliam always intrigued me.



Lee

Sorry for the late update guys (and the bump of an old thread). I recieved my ball back from JSA when I got home from my vacation. Unfortunately, they said that they thought the ball was fake. However, in the letter, they said that there was what appeared to be a signature that was traced over on the ball. I am not really sure what I should do now with it. Any advice would be appreciated.

-Randy

One of my favorite display pieces...