On this day 50 years ago, a Phillies pitcher had one of the best all-around games ever for the team. Rick Wise tossed a no-hitter in a 4-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds, and to top it off, hit 2 home runs to knock in 3 of the Phillies' 4 runs!
The youngest player in major league baseball today is Wander Franco, at only 20. But Wander is an octogenarian compared to the youngest player to ever appear in a MLB game - Joe Nuxhall, who took the mound pitching for the Cincinnati Reds on June 10, 1944. Due to a shortage of players during World War II, the Reds brought in Nuxhall, at the age of 15 years, 316 days!! The inexperienced Nuxhall promptly gave up 5 earned runs in 2/3 of an inning, and vanished from the majors until brought back 8 years later. He went on to a respectable 135-117 win-loss record and retired in 1966. Then he became an announcer for the Reds in a career that spanned 38 seasons.
@JBK said:
I got Nuxhall as well, due to his status as the youngest player, but I never knew the full story until now.
He didn't lose the game, because he was thrown in late in the game when his team was already losing in a 13-0 rout. He had apparently just been signed by the Reds, and in a later interview he said how scary his appearance on the mound was. Only
2 or 3 weeks earlier, he had been pitching to 7th and 8th graders, and now he's on the mound in a major league baseball game, and in the batter's circle he sees Stan Musial!
In 1956 when he was with the NY Yankees, Don Larsen did what no other pitcher had done before and none have done since: he pitched a perfect game in the World Series. No hits, no runs, no errors. 27 batters up, 27 down.
Larsen's career was not quite Hall of Fame worthy, but his big game is legendary and put him on par with many HOFers in regard to popularity on the memorabilia market.
Starting with the 40th anniversary of his perfect game in 1996, I sent him baseballs to be inscribed with a special commemorative inscription. I did it again in 2006 for the 50th, and also in 2016 for the 60th. That was the last big anniversary, as he passed away in January 2020.
Hello All! I Just picked up this Babe Ruth signed ball. What do you think about authenticity and how much would you have paid for it? Does anyone have ways that I can check the auto? I have heard to use a black light- does this work? I did a little research about the ball the auto is on- its a Spalding 'Star' baseball which I think I dated to the 1940s. This would help considering Ruth was still alive during this time. Any insight would be appreciated! Thank you for everyone's time!
That ball is rough. If, and that is if, that signature can be authenticated it should be done by one of the top authentication companies.
A black light will tell you a few things (not exactly sure what) but it only helps to disqualify a forgery, not prove authenticity.
Maybe that ball looks better in person but unless it was really cheap I am not sure I would have bought it.
I have only seen one Ruth ball up close. It was bought by a family friend in a little country auction. It had solid provenance and was in perfect condition. So, my frame of reference is a little skewed.
@Justfishinjj said:
Hello All! I Just picked up this Babe Ruth signed ball. What do you think about authenticity and how much would you have paid for it? Does anyone have ways that I can check the auto?
@JBK said:
That ball is rough. If, and that is if, that signature can be authenticated it should be done by one of the top authentication companies.
I saw a Babe Ruth signed ball VERY similar to this at that same show/dealer I saw the faked Lincoln signature on actual 1860s letter and questionable Marilyn Monroe signed checks. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the same one. The Babe Ruth ball I saw was in very rough shape like this where the signature was very hard to make out completely. I was kind of surprised at the price considering it had no authentication of any kind and was in terrible condition. I believe he was asking $2500 (or maybe $5000 originally but after asking to look at it he knocked it down to $2500). I was suspicious but then again with the condition thought it might be authentic and just not nice. I passed on it either way.
I would be curious to have this checked out by Beckett. I hope you didn’t pay a lot for it because even if it’s authentic it’s in such bad condition that it’s probably not worth anywhere near as much as a nicer example.
@Justfishinjj said:
Hello All! I Just picked up this Babe Ruth signed ball. What do you think about authenticity and how much would you have paid for it? Does anyone have ways that I can check the auto? I have heard to use a black light- does this work? I did a little research about the ball the auto is on- its a Spalding 'Star' baseball which I think I dated to the 1940s. This would help considering Ruth was still alive during this time. Any insight would be appreciated! Thank you for everyone's time!
Maybe this will help with the provenance?
🤔
😉
🤪
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
Wikipedia puts it best: "Al Hirschfeld was an American caricaturist best known for his black and white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars." His caricatures portray these stars in a slightly exaggerated fashion, too. You've probably seen his work in some magazine. Here is the autograph I got from him, and below is his take on Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in the movie "Bringing Up Baby".
@ernie11 said:
Wikipedia puts it best: "Al Hirschfeld was an American caricaturist best known for his black and white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars." His caricatures portray these stars in a slightly exaggerated fashion, too. You've probably seen his work in some magazine. Here is the autograph I got from him, and below in the comments is his take on Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in the movie "Bringing Up Baby".
That reminded me that I have a couple blank envelopes signed by him. If they ever issue a Hirschfeld stamp I want to have them postmarked with the First Day of Issue cancellation.
@JBK said:
That reminded me that I have a couple blank envelopes signed by him. If they ever issue a Hirschfeld stamp I want to have them postmarked with the First Day of Issue cancellation.
BTW, neat date - January 1st.
They've never issued a Hirschfeld stamp, but 30 years ago they issued a booklet of stamps commemorating comedians using some of his drawings.
@PipestonePete said:
I see "NINA" in Car's bow tie and Katharine's dress. His drawings are always entertaining.
I was never too good at spotting those.
He worked his daughter's name into his drawings, and sometimes the added a number next to his signature to indicate how many times "Nina" appeared in a particular illustration.
His work popped up lots of places back then. Even people who might not have specifically heard of him knew his style of drawings if they saw one.
I always associated him with Broadway theater in NYC since I think he did a lot of illustrations for the covers of playbills.
@JBK said:
That reminded me that I have a couple blank envelopes signed by him. If they ever issue a Hirschfeld stamp I want to have them postmarked with the First Day of Issue cancellation.
BTW, neat date - January 1st.
They've never issued a Hirschfeld stamp, but 30 years ago they issued a booklet of stamps commemorating comedians using some of his drawings.
I have a couple autographed First Day Covers of that stamp series. and also one of the FDCs for the great Elvis Pressley stamp he did.
It's funny how he got all that attention on stamps while he was alive but so far has not gotten one if his own. Maybe I need to write to the USPS with a suggestion...
Many people remember Mary Kay Place playing Loretta Haggers in the soap opera spoof TV show "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman". Indeed, I still have my autographed vinyl record album, "Mary Kay Place - Tonite! At The Capri Lounge Loretta Haggers", released in 1976. But I also remember Place for her fine acting in two roles in her film career: "Diane" in 2018, and back in 1996 in "Manny and Lo".
Also on the album cover is Graham Jarvis' autograph, who played her husband Charlie Haggers.
One of the benefits of having collected for a long time is the potential to leverage the "archives" to create new collectables.
I am not normally a huge fan of signed index (or similar) cards, but I do accumulate them along the way sometimes.
Art Carney was one of the stars of the 1950s comedy "The Honeymooners" and years ago I got my share of signed photos and the sketches that he would do, but I also picked up a few signed cards in between.
I came across them recently and decided to send one to to the last surviving cast member, Joyce Randolph, who is in her mid 90s. Her character on the show was married to Art Carney's character.
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker has managed for something like 28 years. He is approaching 2,000 career managerial wins and has had several division titles with the Giants, Cubs, Nationals, Reds and Astros. Sadly, only one pennant and no World Series wins yet. What is sometimes forgotten is that he had nearly 2,000 hits in his playing career, mostly with Atlanta and the Dodgers. Here is an autographed card from his Cubs managerial days.
Since the Mets are on top of the NL East, I post an autograph from their glory days in the 1980's. Pitcher Sid Fernandez went 16-6 in the 1986 season and helped take the Mets to a successful World Series.
Autographs from the British women’s ski team at the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble. No medals for the team but they turned in some good performances. What appealed to me is the fact that the signatures were made at the time of the games.
Yes, I found some newspaper articles of the time about the ski team. Divina Galica addressed the postcard and the other signatures are Gina Hathorn, Diana Tomlinson, Felicity “Bunny” Field, Helen Jamieson and coach Maria Grossberger. Gina came in fourth in one of the slalom events. Thanks for noticing.
In the summer of 2005, I decided to buy an autographed photo from a surefire future Hall of Famer, Rafael Palmeiro. With 3,000+ career hits and 500+ home runs, he was a cinch to be a first ballot inductee, right? A few weeks after I received the photo, Palmeiro was suspended for 10 days following a positive test for a performance-enhancing drug. His career ended shortly afterwards and the baseball writers never let Raffy anywhere near the Hall of Fame.
The Boone family has contributed mightily to baseball, over 3 generations. Ray Boone was an infielder for several teams , mostly in the 1950's. His son, Bob Boone was a catcher, most notably with the Phillies. And Bob's son Bret Boone slugged for the Reds and the Mariners. I could probably get Bret's brother Aaron's autograph, too, if he weren't managing the Yankees and very busy trying to figure out how they melted down in the 9th inning last night.
Another one like this that I have, I don't have an image for - it is an autographed index card I got back in 1998 from Tim Forneris, the St. Louis groundskeeper who retrieved the baseball hit by Mark McGwire as his 62nd HR, to break the single-season home run record. Last I read, Forneris was an assistant public defender in St. Louis.
I have an image of this now, here it is. Apologies for the image quality - my new flatbed scanner doesn't treat some items well and the result looks more like a Xerox than an image scan.
I recently stumbled on an article from several years ago about those two goofball teenagers who jumped onto the field to congratulate Hank Aaron as he was roundup the bases after breaking Babe Ruth's home run record. One has since passed away but I was thinking about trying to track the other one down.
I always cringe when I see the footage of those guys interfering with Aaron's moment, but hey, they're a part of history now.
40 years ago, there was Fernandomania! Centered around Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, in his first 8 starts he merely came up with 8 wins, 7 complete games, 5 shutouts and 4 earned runs surrendered in his first 72 innings. In the 1981 strike-shortened season, Fernando became the first player ever to win the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards in the same season. In 3 other seasons he was one of the runners-up to the Cy Young Award and finished with 173 wins.
From Wikipedia: "Shirley Temple was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat who was Hollywood's number one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938." She was no longer a child when she autographed this index card for me back in 1996.
STB was elusive for many years. A short window opened up, probably around the time you got that card.
I had a photo of her that I had sent a few years before only to get back unsigned, and I resent it and she signed it, probably about the same time you got yours.
One of the best autographs I owned in my original collection was a Walt Disney signed check. I purchased this in 2005 for around $1300 and sold it in 2014 (it was one of the last autographs I sold out of my old collection) for $1600. Today this same check would cost at least $2500. It was fun to own.
Two that I have owned and sold. The signature on the signed sheet is huge. Signed in 1963 at the Kansas Art Institute. I wish that I had kept at least one of them.
Apologies for the quality of the image, my new flatbed scanner sometimes has problems with pure black and white images.
Along with Tenzing Norgay, Sir Edmund Hillary successfully ascended Mount Everest, the first people to do so, on May 29, 1953. My autograph from Sir Edmund.
@ernie11 said:
Apologies for the quality of the image, my new flatbed scanner sometimes has problems with pure black and white images.
Along with Tenzing Norgay, Sir Edmund Hillary successfully ascended Mount Everest, the first people to do so, on May 29, 1953. My autograph from Sir Edmund.
That's a great one - I think a bit earlier than mine as yours is "E P Hillary" whereas later he commonly signed as "Ed Hillary".
Comments
On this day 50 years ago, a Phillies pitcher had one of the best all-around games ever for the team. Rick Wise tossed a no-hitter in a 4-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds, and to top it off, hit 2 home runs to knock in 3 of the Phillies' 4 runs!
Here's my autograph.
The youngest player in major league baseball today is Wander Franco, at only 20. But Wander is an octogenarian compared to the youngest player to ever appear in a MLB game - Joe Nuxhall, who took the mound pitching for the Cincinnati Reds on June 10, 1944. Due to a shortage of players during World War II, the Reds brought in Nuxhall, at the age of 15 years, 316 days!! The inexperienced Nuxhall promptly gave up 5 earned runs in 2/3 of an inning, and vanished from the majors until brought back 8 years later. He went on to a respectable 135-117 win-loss record and retired in 1966. Then he became an announcer for the Reds in a career that spanned 38 seasons.
I got Nuxhall as well, due to his status as the youngest player, but I never knew the full story until now.
He didn't lose the game, because he was thrown in late in the game when his team was already losing in a 13-0 rout. He had apparently just been signed by the Reds, and in a later interview he said how scary his appearance on the mound was. Only
2 or 3 weeks earlier, he had been pitching to 7th and 8th graders, and now he's on the mound in a major league baseball game, and in the batter's circle he sees Stan Musial!
WWII produced some interesting developments in baseball when healthy players were off serving in the war.
There was Pete Gray, who was a one-armed player, and Lou Stratton, who only had use of one leg, the other being locked in place with a brace.
In 1956 when he was with the NY Yankees, Don Larsen did what no other pitcher had done before and none have done since: he pitched a perfect game in the World Series. No hits, no runs, no errors. 27 batters up, 27 down.
Larsen's career was not quite Hall of Fame worthy, but his big game is legendary and put him on par with many HOFers in regard to popularity on the memorabilia market.
Starting with the 40th anniversary of his perfect game in 1996, I sent him baseballs to be inscribed with a special commemorative inscription. I did it again in 2006 for the 50th, and also in 2016 for the 60th. That was the last big anniversary, as he passed away in January 2020.
Dan Davis is an artist/cartoonist who does illustrations for various comic books, etc.
One of the characters he draws is Garfield.
I asked for a sketch of someone with a mask as a memento of the pandemic and he sent this.
I like to leverage current events to get unique items that are snapshots in time.
(Now, I don't want anyone else to copy my idea.
).
Hello All! I Just picked up this Babe Ruth signed ball. What do you think about authenticity and how much would you have paid for it? Does anyone have ways that I can check the auto? I have heard to use a black light- does this work? I did a little research about the ball the auto is on- its a Spalding 'Star' baseball which I think I dated to the 1940s. This would help considering Ruth was still alive during this time. Any insight would be appreciated! Thank you for everyone's time!
That ball is rough. If, and that is if, that signature can be authenticated it should be done by one of the top authentication companies.
A black light will tell you a few things (not exactly sure what) but it only helps to disqualify a forgery, not prove authenticity.
Maybe that ball looks better in person but unless it was really cheap I am not sure I would have bought it.
I have only seen one Ruth ball up close. It was bought by a family friend in a little country auction. It had solid provenance and was in perfect condition. So, my frame of reference is a little skewed.
I saw a Babe Ruth signed ball VERY similar to this at that same show/dealer I saw the faked Lincoln signature on actual 1860s letter and questionable Marilyn Monroe signed checks. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the same one. The Babe Ruth ball I saw was in very rough shape like this where the signature was very hard to make out completely. I was kind of surprised at the price considering it had no authentication of any kind and was in terrible condition. I believe he was asking $2500 (or maybe $5000 originally but after asking to look at it he knocked it down to $2500). I was suspicious but then again with the condition thought it might be authentic and just not nice. I passed on it either way.
I would be curious to have this checked out by Beckett. I hope you didn’t pay a lot for it because even if it’s authentic it’s in such bad condition that it’s probably not worth anywhere near as much as a nicer example.
Maybe this will help with the provenance?
🤔
😉
🤪
Curious about the rare, mysterious and beautiful 1951 Wheaties Premium Photos?
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/987963/1951-wheaties-premium-photos-set-registry#latest
Wikipedia puts it best: "Al Hirschfeld was an American caricaturist best known for his black and white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars." His caricatures portray these stars in a slightly exaggerated fashion, too. You've probably seen his work in some magazine. Here is the autograph I got from him, and below is his take on Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in the movie "Bringing Up Baby".
That reminded me that I have a couple blank envelopes signed by him. If they ever issue a Hirschfeld stamp I want to have them postmarked with the First Day of Issue cancellation.
BTW, neat date - January 1st.
They've never issued a Hirschfeld stamp, but 30 years ago they issued a booklet of stamps commemorating comedians using some of his drawings.
I see "NINA" in Car's bow tie and Katharine's dress. His drawings are always entertaining.
I was never too good at spotting those.
He worked his daughter's name into his drawings, and sometimes the added a number next to his signature to indicate how many times "Nina" appeared in a particular illustration.
His work popped up lots of places back then. Even people who might not have specifically heard of him knew his style of drawings if they saw one.
I always associated him with Broadway theater in NYC since I think he did a lot of illustrations for the covers of playbills.
I have a couple autographed First Day Covers of that stamp series. and also one of the FDCs for the great Elvis Pressley stamp he did.
It's funny how he got all that attention on stamps while he was alive but so far has not gotten one if his own. Maybe I need to write to the USPS with a suggestion...
Many people remember Mary Kay Place playing Loretta Haggers in the soap opera spoof TV show "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman". Indeed, I still have my autographed vinyl record album, "Mary Kay Place - Tonite! At The Capri Lounge Loretta Haggers", released in 1976. But I also remember Place for her fine acting in two roles in her film career: "Diane" in 2018, and back in 1996 in "Manny and Lo".
Also on the album cover is Graham Jarvis' autograph, who played her husband Charlie Haggers.
It's funny - I never watched the TV show but I am very familiar with it from all the promotion of it back then.
One of the benefits of having collected for a long time is the potential to leverage the "archives" to create new collectables.
I am not normally a huge fan of signed index (or similar) cards, but I do accumulate them along the way sometimes.
Art Carney was one of the stars of the 1950s comedy "The Honeymooners" and years ago I got my share of signed photos and the sketches that he would do, but I also picked up a few signed cards in between.
I came across them recently and decided to send one to to the last surviving cast member, Joyce Randolph, who is in her mid 90s. Her character on the show was married to Art Carney's character.
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker has managed for something like 28 years. He is approaching 2,000 career managerial wins and has had several division titles with the Giants, Cubs, Nationals, Reds and Astros. Sadly, only one pennant and no World Series wins yet. What is sometimes forgotten is that he had nearly 2,000 hits in his playing career, mostly with Atlanta and the Dodgers. Here is an autographed card from his Cubs managerial days.
Nice signature placement - he knows what he's doing.
Since the Mets are on top of the NL East, I post an autograph from their glory days in the 1980's. Pitcher Sid Fernandez went 16-6 in the 1986 season and helped take the Mets to a successful World Series.
You say that like it's a good thing.
Just stating the facts. I'm a Phillies fan, so I suffered back then. too.
Autographs from the British women’s ski team at the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble. No medals for the team but they turned in some good performances. What appealed to me is the fact that the signatures were made at the time of the games.
That's a great piece, especially since it was sent from the Olympics, as you said.
Have you identified all the signatures?
It looks like Bunny wrote the recipient's name and the first signer who wrote the note addressed it.
Yes, I found some newspaper articles of the time about the ski team. Divina Galica addressed the postcard and the other signatures are Gina Hathorn, Diana Tomlinson, Felicity “Bunny” Field, Helen Jamieson and coach Maria Grossberger. Gina came in fourth in one of the slalom events. Thanks for noticing.
That's great!
I tried to Google the recipient but only got some false leads.
In the summer of 2005, I decided to buy an autographed photo from a surefire future Hall of Famer, Rafael Palmeiro. With 3,000+ career hits and 500+ home runs, he was a cinch to be a first ballot inductee, right? A few weeks after I received the photo, Palmeiro was suspended for 10 days following a positive test for a performance-enhancing drug. His career ended shortly afterwards and the baseball writers never let Raffy anywhere near the Hall of Fame.
Ouch!
Maybe start a Hall of Shame collection. Don't forget to add a Pete Rose.
The Boone family has contributed mightily to baseball, over 3 generations. Ray Boone was an infielder for several teams , mostly in the 1950's. His son, Bob Boone was a catcher, most notably with the Phillies. And Bob's son Bret Boone slugged for the Reds and the Mariners. I could probably get Bret's brother Aaron's autograph, too, if he weren't managing the Yankees and very busy trying to figure out how they melted down in the 9th inning last night.
I have an image of this now, here it is. Apologies for the image quality - my new flatbed scanner doesn't treat some items well and the result looks more like a Xerox than an image scan.
Nice historical artifact.
I recently stumbled on an article from several years ago about those two goofball teenagers who jumped onto the field to congratulate Hank Aaron as he was roundup the bases after breaking Babe Ruth's home run record. One has since passed away but I was thinking about trying to track the other one down.
I always cringe when I see the footage of those guys interfering with Aaron's moment, but hey, they're a part of history now.
40 years ago, there was Fernandomania! Centered around Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, in his first 8 starts he merely came up with 8 wins, 7 complete games, 5 shutouts and 4 earned runs surrendered in his first 72 innings. In the 1981 strike-shortened season, Fernando became the first player ever to win the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards in the same season. In 3 other seasons he was one of the runners-up to the Cy Young Award and finished with 173 wins.
He has a nice signature.
The greatest childhood star of them all!
From Wikipedia: "Shirley Temple was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat who was Hollywood's number one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938." She was no longer a child when she autographed this index card for me back in 1996.
That's a great one.
STB was elusive for many years. A short window opened up, probably around the time you got that card.
I had a photo of her that I had sent a few years before only to get back unsigned, and I resent it and she signed it, probably about the same time you got yours.
I happened to be collecting when that short window happened. I got an index card signed and then an 8x 10 photo of her dressed in a Santa hat.
Sadly both were sold with the 99.9% of my original autograph collection in 2011.
Forgive me the silliness of obtaining this autograph years ago, but I used to watch this show as a kid.
No shame in that one. I wish I had gotten him myself, along with the Rogers brothers: Roy and Mr.
My sister actually wrote to Mr. Rogers when she was young and he sent back a signed postcard. I think it somehow ended up with my stuff.
I have a Mister Rogers auto'ed photo, too.
If only I had the foresight to write to Jim Henson back in the day.
One of the best autographs I owned in my original collection was a Walt Disney signed check. I purchased this in 2005 for around $1300 and sold it in 2014 (it was one of the last autographs I sold out of my old collection) for $1600. Today this same check would cost at least $2500. It was fun to own.
Two that I have owned and sold. The signature on the signed sheet is huge. Signed in 1963 at the Kansas Art Institute. I wish that I had kept at least one of them.
Those are all great Disney autographs.
That check had the added connection to Eisenhower.
And that photo is fantastic.
You are all braver than I am. There are so many secretarials and forgeries out there, but I am sure you did your homework.
Apologies for the quality of the image, my new flatbed scanner sometimes has problems with pure black and white images.
Along with Tenzing Norgay, Sir Edmund Hillary successfully ascended Mount Everest, the first people to do so, on May 29, 1953. My autograph from Sir Edmund.
This is the Edmund Hillary I got ttm when I sent him the New Zealand Five Dollar note he was featured on.
That's a great one - I think a bit earlier than mine as yours is "E P Hillary" whereas later he commonly signed as "Ed Hillary".