LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2006 October Signature Sports Auction #705  / 

19085

1913 Philadelphia A's Team Signed Sheet PSA/DNA

Currency:USD Category:Sports - Cards & Fan Shop / Sports - Autographs (Original) Start Price:4,000.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 12,000.00 USD
1913 Philadelphia A's Team Signed Sheet PSA/DNA
<B>1913 Philadelphia Athletics Team Signed Celebratory Dinner Program.</B></I> For the legions of collectors who focus upon artifacts relating to Connie Mack's white elephants, this may well be the most exciting piece to hit the auction block in recent memory. Complete with the yellow and baby blue ribbon that binds it, this program serves as a timeless memento of the squad's first great dynasty, and more specifically the team that won its third World Championship in four years. Each of the five leaves of paper that comprise the program is packed with intrigue, beginning with a terrific cover image and the text, "Dinner to the Athletics by Citizens of Philadelphia, World's Champions 1913, Bellevue-Stratford, Tuesday, October 28, 1913." Page two offers a terrific team photo on paper, the third a dinner menu, and the fourth a listing of the members of the victorious squad. But it is the back cover that should send collectors' jaws southward, as twenty banquet attendees have applied their 9/10 and better pencil signatures there. From top to bottom, we find Rube Oldring, Herbert J. Pennock, Joe Bush, Jack [Stuffy] McInnis, Wally H. Schang, Chas. A. [Chief] Bender, Amos A. Strunk, Ira Thomas, Dan Murphy, Rev. T.W. Davis, Connie Mack, John K. Tener (National League President 1914-18), B.F. Shibe (half owner of the A's, gave name to Shibe Park), E.S. [Eddie] Plank, Jack Barry, Eddie Murphy, Carroll Brown, Jim Walsh, Frank [Home Run] Baker and Eddie Collins. Literally every major player on the squad is present, perhaps most notably Eddie Plank, whose death in 1926 has elevated the value of his autograph alone to $7,000 in Sports Market Report. But, in this case, the whole is worth far more than the sum of its parts. The entire $100,000 Infield is here, and each of the team's Hall of Famers: Pennock, Mack, Plank, Baker and Collins. Even the non-players, notably Ben Shibe and John Tener, carry significant collector interest. But the fact remains that we have never, ever seen another team signed piece from this historic team. This is quite possibly the only such example on earth. The fact that these signatures are found on a program from the celebration dinner orchestrated for the team by the City of Philadelphia is almost too perfect to bear. A moderate degree of creasing and staining is to be expected, but our catalog imagery should illustrate that the effect of these flaws is not significant. It goes without saying that such concerns must be overlooked anyhow when dealing with a piece of such tremendous rarity and significance. <I>LOA from PSA/DNA.</B></I>
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