Vintage Sports Cards – Baseball – Basketball – Football – Hockey
Here’s an incredible advertising contract featuring the full-name signature of “George H Babe Ruth.”
The fully executed agreement was signed by a representative of the National Broadcasting Company in March 1939, and states the final terms for what I guess was the severing of the relationship that had provided for Ruth’s endorsement on behalf of Red Rock Bottlers, Inc.
You can see that the EX/MT document came with a PSA/DNA certification. It was auctioned off in December 2004.
How many of you display pennants as part of your collections? Well, if you don’t and are interested in a nice introduction to them, Michael Solomowitz penned this great piece that Trading Cards Magazine published in June 1992.
Here’s the only known scorecard from Cy Young’s 1904 Perfect Game vs. Rube Waddell, the first perfect game in AL History. Sotheby’s offered it in their June 2005 Important Sports Memorabilia and Cards auction.
I’ve never been a big collector of this sort of memorabilia unless the scorecard advertised sports cards, too, but this one is so historically significant that I felt it was worth highlighting.
Here’s the full item description copied from the catalog:
One of the most consistent and durable pitchers the game has ever known, Denton True “Cy” Young won 511 games almost 100 more than any other pitcher in history. He won 30 games five times and topped 20 wins an astounding 15 times. In 1901 Young had his best season and became the fledgling American League’s first superstar, leading the junior circuit in wins, strikeouts and ERA. His greatest single performance, however, would come on May 5, 1904 at the Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston. In an epic showdown against future Hall of Famer Rube Waddell and the Connie Mack led Athletics Young threw the first perfect game in American League history. In the ninth inning with two outs, Connie Mack sent Waddell (the pitcher) to the plate. Cy Young popped him out on a fly ball to center capping his 3-0 masterpiece. Not a single ball was hit hard by the Athletics and Mack himself commented that this was the most impressive game ever pitched. Young’s extraordinary nine-inning performance was at the center of what may be the most amazing streak of pitching excellence in baseball history. All told, the right-hander pitched 24 consecutive innings without surrendering a hit. Prior to his perfect game on May 5, Young had pitched two hitless innings at the end of a loss on April 25, and seven innings of hitless relief on April 30. In his first outing after blitzing the Athletics, he stretched his hitless streak to 24 innings against Detroit on May 11 In a 1-0 victory, Young failed to allow a hit until future Hall of Fame outfielder Sam Crawford broke the hitless streak with one out in the seventh. Offered here is the only known original scorecard from Cy Young’s historic perfect game on May 5, 1904. The six-page scorecard features pre-printed lineups at the centerfold for that day including pitchers Young and Waddell. Every at-bat has been neatly recorded in pencil by its original owner. A small composite image of the Red Sox team appears on the first page. The interior pages have loosened from the spine, which has been reinforced by clear tape. Minor soiling and general wear do not significantly detract from its presentation quality. Very good condition overall.
Here’s Christy Mathewson’s official National League Player’s Contract for the 1903 season, dated September 15, 1902.
Robert Edward Auctions (then a division of MastroNet Inc.) & eBay presented the item in their July 2000 Baseball Cards and Memorabilia auction. Here’s the lot’s description:
Official National League Player’s Contract for the season of 1903 has been signed by Giants owner John T Brush (10/10), Christy Mathewson (signed “Christopher Mathewson”, 10/10), and manager John McGraw (signed “John J. McGraw, 10/10) as a witness. The contract is dated September 15, 1902. When this contract was signed Mathewson had a 34-37 lifetime record and had just finished a 14-17 season. In 1903 he pitched the first of three consecutive 30 game winning seasons, and 12 consecutive seasons of winning between 22 and 37 games per year, including four seasons of thirty or more victories. It is especially significant that then rookie manager John McGraw (who was just about to embark on his first full season as the Giants manager) served as the witness to this signing. McGraw managed Mathewson’s entire career with the Giants and the two are forever linked as the heart and soul of the glory days of the Giants’ Dynasty years during the early twentieth century. An extraordinary document from one of the game’s greatest stars. Very Good to Excellent condition with flawless signatures. LOA.
The contract’s reserve was set at $10,000.
I’m unsure what it sold for, but REA sold Mathewson’s 1902 player’s contract for $41,125 in the spring of 2011, which RRAuction resold in February 2019 for $68,482. Also, Heritage sold Mathewson’s New York Giants rookie contract for $72,000 in August 2020.
Tickets to sporting events can be worth more than the price of admission by Bruce Chadwick.
I love that Chadwick highlighted college football tickets. “Some of the most memory-filled tickets are from college football games. Until the early ’70s, schools large and small had colorful illustrations on the tickets, making them much more than just stubs.”
This article appeared in Edition #8 of Topps Magazine in the fall of 1991.
Today’s piece of hobby history memorabilia is this 1936/37 Madison Square Garden Hockey Poster featuring Hall of Famer Mervin “Red” Dutton of the New York American Hockey Club.
Sotheby’s offered the piece in their March 1993 catalog. It shows the schedule of events at the Garden in November 1936, highlighting the New York Americans match to open the season on November 12th against the Chicago Black Hawks.
It was described as being printed on heavy stock with a blank reverse; “one of the finest hockey broadsides ever offered,” near mint condition. 11 in by 17 in. The estimate was $1,500-2,000.
One of the most colorful and unique hobby-adjacent collectibles you can add to your collection is a circa 1941 Joe DiMaggio’s Restaurant Linen postcard. I picked up this variation and its souvenir envelope for just $27.
Ron Menchine wrote a few books on baseball postcards and said, “The most famous and probably the best of the brothers who have played baseball were the DiMaggios. They grew up near the San Francisco waterfront, so it’s not surprising that they parlayed their fame and money into a popular restaurant on Fishermen’s Wharf.”
The variation with the three brothers along the top has the following specs, according to Menchine in his 1999 Baseball Postcard Collection book:
The other variation of the restaurant’s postcard has two interior, an exterior, and a Joe DiMaggio picture on the front.
If you’re into graded items, PSA has graded four with interior views and seven with all the brothers, and SGC has added two of each of those copies. SGC also has two labeled as ‘Joe DiMaggio’ in their Pop Report, but I think those are old-flip three-brother combos, like the following example. I’ve also seen a Beckett slabbed postcard before.
