• Home
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
    • Advertise with SC Daily
    • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?
    • Write About Your Sports Collection
  • Hot on Ebay
    • Most Watched Baseball Cards
      • Babe Ruth Cards
      • Hank Aaron Cards
      • Hottest Willie Mays Baseball Cards
      • Mickey Mantle Cards
      • Most Popular Nolan Ryan Cards on eBay
      • Most Watched T206 Baseball Cards on eBay
      • Most Watched 1952 Topps Cards on eBay
    • Most Watched Basketball Cards
      • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
      • Michael Jordan Cards
      • Hottest LeBron James Rookie Cards on eBay Now
      • Stephen Curry Cards
    • Most Watched Football Cards
    • Most Watched Hockey Cards
      • Active Market for Connor McDavid Cards
      • Bobby Orr Cards Still a Magnet for Collectors
    • Soccer Cards
    • Rookie Cards
    • Game Used Memorabilia
    • PSA 10 Cards
    • Sports Autographs
    • Vintage Sports Memorabilia
  • Ending Soon on Ebay
    • Baseball Cards
    • Basketball Cards
    • Football Cards
    • Hockey Cards
  • Search 268X60

    Lelands

Sports Collectors Daily

Sports collecting news - Sports cards and sports memorabilia industry news.

Top Mobile

  • Sports Memorabilia News
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Affordable Vintage Cards, Collectibles
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • Around The Hobby
    • Editor’s Blog
    • David Cycleback’s Identification and Authentication Advice
    • What’s Hot in the Shop
  • Popular Stories
You are here: Home / Sports Memorabilia / Editor’s Blog: Ted Williams Catalog a Sight to Behold

Top Banner 486X60

Editor’s Blog: Ted Williams Catalog a Sight to Behold

April 10, 2012 By Rich Mueller

It arrived a couple of weeks ago but over the weekend, I finally got a chance to page through the huge catalog for the upcoming Ted Williams Auction. It’s one of the most remarkable things I’ve seen in more than 30 years of pretty serious collecting.  Yes, there are historic pieces that will sell for a lot of money.  What’s most riveting to me, though, is seeing what an amazing life he led through his memorabilia.

Williams’ military medals are here.  Stunning color pictures of him as a young fighter pilot and his flight log books from his stints in wartime.

Think about that for the second.

The greatest hitter of all-time was not above putting his life on the line in the middle of a war.  Try putting one of today’s athletes in that flight suit ready to face the enemy.  It’s hard to imagine.  Looking at the photos, though, it looks like he’s going out to take batting practice.  Williams gave up some of the best years of his career.  We’ve known that for a long time.  The images and war relics bring it to life.

There are signed photos and letters from presidents of the United States, some of whom considered him a personal friend.

Williams saved everything.

He signed everything, too.

There are literally thousands of Williams autographs in the auction.  Hundreds of boldly signed checks (“Theodore Samuel Williams”).  Picures.  Prints.  Baseballs.  Books he owned.  Insurance papers.  His driver’s license.

He traded autographs with Mickey Mantle. Those are here.

Bob Feller wrote him a note about having to serve in the military.  That’s here.

There’s an amazing personalized photo of Jim Thorpe.

Williams’ time as manager of the Washington Senators put him even closer to political figures of the day.  Nixon wrote him notes signed simply “Dick”.

You get the feeling paging through the 290+ page catalog that Williams was never bored.  He tied flies (his fishing rods are up for bid as is the table he used to do it).  He went big game fishing (yes, you can buy his mounted trophy fish).  He hunted (his guns and knives are in the auction).  He played golf (you can buy his clubs), collected coins (dozens of graded coins bearing the “Ted Williams Collection” provenance are being sold) and once autographs became a commodity, it’s clear from the auction that he was busy signing (there’s a ‘practice sheet’ with multiple signatures).

Williams, history tells us, was busy in a not so good way, too.  His personal life was often a mess.  One of his former wives wound up with a lot of memorabilia from their time together and that was sold off awhile back.  He was a little too loud at times.  He definitely didn’t suffer fools.

Still, looking through the catalog is like looking at the life of a vintage man’s man.  The kind they don’t make anymore.  If you can’t afford to bid, it’s still worth an hour of your time to see the stuff that helped make him what he was.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon

Related Stories:

No related stories.

About Rich Mueller

Rich is the editor and founder of Sports Collectors Daily. A broadcaster and writer for more than 30 years and a collector for even longer than that, he's usually typing something somewhere. Type him back at [email protected]

Filed Under: Sports Memorabilia, Sports Memorabilia News

Bottom Mobile

Mile High Card Co Accepting Consignments

Bottom Banner 336X280

Left #1 200X50

What\\\

Left #2 200X150

Huggins and Scott - Now accepting consignments

Left #3 200X150

Right #1 160X240

Right #2 160X240

Left #4 160X600

Right #3 160X600

  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • Hockey

Right #4 – 160X240

Bargain Corner

  • Mickey Mantle Cards Under $100
  • Pre-1980 Graded Baseball Cards Currently Under $5
  • Pre-1980 Graded Football Cards Currently Under $5
  • Pre-1980 Graded Basketball Cards $5 and Less
  • Pre-1980 Graded Hockey Cards $5 and Less
  • Complete Sets Under $10 with Free Shipping
  • Baseball Hall of Famers for $5 or Less
  • Football Hall of Famers for $5 or Less
  • Hobby Boxes Under $30
  • Rookie Cards Under $1

RSS Auction Report

  • Rare Rangers Program Signed by Babe Ruth on Steiner Auctions Block
  • Mint Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps Rookie Sets World Record in $9.83 Million Sports Card Auction at Heritage
  • Mile High Card Company is Accepting Consignments – Check Out Our Prices Realized
  • Small Traditions Spring Premium Auction In Progress – Ends May 5, 2018
Countdown to Black Friday - A New Sale Everyday at SportsMemorabilia.com


Categories

  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • David Cycleback's Identification and Authentication Advice
  • Editor's Blog
  • Library of College Football
  • National Sports Collectors Convention
  • Popular Stories
  • Rich Klein's Ramblings
  • Shopping
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
  • Sports Memorabilia
    • Around the Hobby
    • Sports Memorabilia News
  • Vintage Hockey Card Sets
  • What's Hot in the Shop

Sponsor Links

  • Buying Vintage Sports Cards
  • Game Used Jerseys
  • Every Athlete Autograph Event
  • 1952 Topps Baseball
  • Championship Rings For Sale
  • Vintage Basketball Cards
  • NBA Signed Items
  • Signed Sports Memorabilia
  • UFC Memorabilia
  • Autographed Baseballs
  • NASCAR Autographs
  • Vintage Graded Baseball Cards
  • Player Pictures
  • Vintage Football Cards
  • Sports Card Boxes
  • Sports Collectors Store

Left #5 200X50

Sports Card Forum

Pages

  • 100 Most Watched Graded Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • 20 Hottest Barry Sanders Football Cards
  • 2016 Cubs Replica Championship Rings Don’t Cost a Fortune
  • 2017 Topps Definitive Collection Box Breaks, Most Watched
  • 50 Hottest Kareem Hunt Rookie Cards
  • About Us/Contact/Advertise
    • Advertise with SC Daily
    • Contact Us
    • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
  • Affordable Vintage Sports Cards and Collectibles
  • Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
  • Baseball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Basketball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Best Joey Votto Rookie Cards
  • Current Most Watched Baseball Cards on eBay
  • Eagles Super Bowl Champions Memorabilia Guide
  • Fanatics Under Wraps 2017 Next Level Edition Autographed Baseballs
  • Football Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Great Gifts for Cubs Fans
  • Guide to Clemson Tigers National Championship Memorabilia
  • Guide to Houston Astros Championship Memorabilia
  • Hank Aaron Cards on eBay
  • Henrik Lundqvist Rookie Cards a Strong Long-Term Play
  • Hockey Card Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
  • Hottest Lonzo Ball Rookie Cards on eBay
  • Hottest PSA 10 Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Hottest Topps NOW Cards on eBay
  • Hottest UFC Relic Cards
  • Hottest Xander Bogaerts Rookie Cards
  • Links
  • Mickey Mantle Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched 1/1 Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Basketball Cards on eBay
    • Hottest Michael Jordan Basketball Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Football Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Game Used Memorabilia on eBay
  • Most Watched Hockey Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Soccer Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Autographs on eBay
  • Most Watched Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay
  • Patriots Super Bowl 51 Champions Merchandise
  • Terms and Conditions
  • The 2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Kris Bryant Auto Saga: A Timeline
  • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • What’s Hot on eBay
  • What’s It Worth
  • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?
  • Write About Your Sports Collection

Copyright © 2018 SportsCollectorsDaily.com | Genesis Web Design by Wickam Group