Dodgers Blue Heaven: Legendary Auctions: Some Vintage Baseball Beauties

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Legendary Auctions: Some Vintage Baseball Beauties

One of the premier sports auction houses in the county, Legendary Auctions, has just opened up bidding for their first auction of the year, and it includes some great items. As always, I will feature some of the Dodgers related memorabilia (this will come tomorrow), but for now I wanted to focus a bit on some general vintage Baseball memorabilia.

A couple of weeks back I visited the Long Beach Expo and came across the Legendary Auction booth. On display were a handful of vintage Baseball items that would be for sale in their upcoming auction. One of those items is the below PM1 "Ornate Frame" pin of Babe Ruth. (See that previous post here.) At least, the general consensus is that it's Babe Ruth in the image.

(Auction Link)

This pin has generated some controversy. There are some collectors who doubt the legitimacy of the piece. After all, it is generally agreed that these pins were created around 1915, and at that time Babe Ruth was just another new fresh face on the Boston Red Sox. Therefore, why would there be a pin of this nature made for him if he was a relative unknown at the time. Furthermore, he was a pitcher while in Boston, so why is he featured taking a swing with a bat? The auction house retorts that these pins were likely made over a period of several years, and that Ruth is hardly the only known "unknown" player (or rookie) in the set. Futhermore, the auction listing provides detailed photographic magnification to show that it is indeed a vintage image. Whatever you may think, this Babe Ruth pin is a great item and looks even better in person.

(Auction Link)

You will never go wrong by featuring a 1870's CDV of the father-and-son duo of Sam & Harry Wright. Where is the youngest son, George? I do not know. Father, Samuel Wright, was a well regarded cricket player. Per the auction description:

Sam arrived from England about a generation before the Civil War, and he sought to cultivate the British pastime of cricket in the New World. He was a groundsman who engineered the building of several cricket fields in New York City until metro interest in the sport shifted to Hoboken's Elysian Field (of Currier & Ives note). Sam's dream to see his beloved game flourish in America came to grief though as his sons Harry, George and, to a lesser degree, Sam Jr. gravitated to the new sensation, base-ball.

Two of his sons, Harry and George, would go on to be a couple of the founding pioneers of the professional game, and would be elected in Baseball's Hall of Fame.

(Auction Link)

The next item is of local interest. Featured below is a 1907 colorized team photo of the Los Angeles Angels of the PCL. This was a dynasty team. They won 4 Championships over 6 season.