Nearly 33,000 fans showed up to watch the final game of the 1919 World Series. At a time when ticket stubs weren’t considered much of a keepsake by most fans, few survived the trip back home. Even fewer survived the decades to come, when spring cleaning probably claimed more than a few. Those who were inside Comiskey Park on October 9, 1919 saw the end of a … [Read more...]
One of a Kind? Top Quality Buck Weaver Photo Dated Just Prior to 1919 World Series
George Daniel “Buck” Weaver was in the prime of what was playing out to be a long and productive career. He was 28 years old, already the owner of one World Series ring and playing for a team that appeared to be on course to win another just two seasons later. It would all unravel as the 1920s began to unfold, fairly or not. Caught up in the Black Sox … [Read more...]
LOTG Auction Enters Final Week with 1914 Cracker Jack Set, Cobb Back T206, More
The break of a complete set of 1914 Cracker Jack cards and one of the famously scarce T206 Ty Cobb/Cobb Tobacco back cards headline the current Love of the Game Auctions catalog. The sale features one of the strongest overall selections of sports cards and memorabilia in the company’s history, topped by the famous and unique Cobb card, one discovered only within the last … [Read more...]
After the Cheering: Photo of Hap Felsch Still Playing in 1932 at Auction
The big league careers of the Black Sox players ended in 1920, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t play baseball and get paid to do it. Several players including Joe Jackson, Buck Weaver, Chick Gandil and Oscar “Happy “ Felsch continued playing throughout the 1920s following their banishment by commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis. Felsch, in fact, was still swinging a bat … [Read more...]
Conlon Black Sox Photos Headline RMY’s Holiday Auction
Two stunning images of the 1919 Chicago “Black Sox” taken by legendary baseball photographer Charles Conlon are on the auction block. RMY Auctions is featuring the two 6 ½” x 8 ½” photos as part of its annual Holiday Auction. Captured by Conlon just before the start of the World Series in which eight Sox players were found to have conspired with gamblers to accept … [Read more...]
SCP Auctions Offering 1919 World Series Press Pin
The 1919 World Series was infamous because of the Black Sox scandal, where eight members of Chicago’s American League baseball team conspired to throw the postseason series. It's ingrained in pop culture. There’s the immortal quote — real or made up — by the boy pleading with “Shoeless” Joe Jackson at the courthouse steps, “Say it ain’t so, Joe,” which was later preserved on … [Read more...]
Photo of the Day: Shoeless Joe Treats Kids to Ice Cream
He was living a relatively quiet life nearly three full decades after fallout from the Black Sox scandal led to a career-ending banishment. Joe Jackson may have been persona non grata in the big leagues, but he wasn’t forgotten. In 1948, an Associated Press writer and photographer visited Jackson in South Carolina. He was 61, with even his post-scandal barnstorming days a … [Read more...]
1978 Book Store Find Yielded Baseball History…and Big Profit
A $200 investment in some World Series programs back in 1978 turned out to be a stellar investment for a Canadian collector. Owen Ricker, now 76, was visiting Los Angeles 38 years ago when he stopped into a book store and asked if they had any baseball-related items. At first, the answer seemed to be no but a check with the store owner produced a small stack of programs and … [Read more...]
Photo of the Day: “The Fix Was In”
You know the names. Joe Jackson. Hap Felsch. Swede Risberg. Eddie Cicotte. But one name often forgotten in discussion of the 1919 Black Sox scandal is Morris Rath. The Cincinnati Reds’ infielder has a story of his own and a rare photo showing him at the plate during that infamous season is our Photo of the Day from RMY Auctions. Rath was the leadoff batter in the … [Read more...]
Black Sox Memorabilia Up for Grabs
Three lots of rare memorabilia connected to the most infamous event in baseball history will hit the auction block Monday when Goldin Auctions kicks off its first event of 2015. The items include a baseball autographed by 18 members of the "Black Sox" including six of the eight players fingered in the scandal; a paycheck from pitcher Eddie Cicotte signed by both Cicotte and … [Read more...]