This Week on TTMCast
We’re back after a week off… Arron Littleton jumps on as co-host and discusses the merits of the finalists for the future Utah NHL team’s name, Clemente Lisi talks hockey and Donruss Soccer, and we cover all the latest hobby news and TTM successes.
TTM Successes
Steve Carlton
Every year when I have to work some major overtime during NFL Draft week, the resulting extra money will typically go into something hobby related. In 2021 it paid for several 1972 Topps set needs. In 2022, it went toward my minor league graphing trip.
In 2023, I got all of my Nolan Ryan set needs completed. And this time, the lion’s share went to getting Steve Carlton.
He charges $40 per signature for a charity benefiting people with intellectual disabilities, and signed these for me in two weeks.
Collecting The Negro Leagues
A lot of debate and discussion has come with the official announcement that Major League Baseball will now count the Negro Leagues of 1920-1948 as a Major League. Josh Gibson takes the all-time lead in batting average while Oscar Charleston, Jud Wilson, Buck Leonard, and Turkey Stearns all enter the Top 10.
Players like Mule Suttles, Dave Brown, Hilton Smith, Bullett Rogan, Ben Taylor, Cristobal Torriente, and Satchel Paige now find themselves on Top 25 lists.
To me, this is a welcome change, and I commend the work put in by the Negro Leagues Statistical Review Committee to dig up as much first-hand information as they could to compile reliable stats.
Unfortunately, we only have three living members left who played in the Negro Leagues in the era being recognized as Major League. But on a positive note, there are many stars of the Leagues whose autographs are still readily available, some for affordable prices.
Bill Greason
A member of the all-Black 66th Supply Platoon, Greason was involved in the Battle of Iwo Jima before setting out on his baseball career. Bill’s career was fairly short: five starts and three relief appearances for the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons and another four innings with the 1954 St. Louis Cardinals. He still lives in Birmingham today, where he signs via his home address for $5. His signature is looking a bit shaky lately, but still nice and clear for a gentleman who will turn 100 in September. He signed some cards for 2021 Topps Archives.
Willie Mays
“The Say Hey Kid” added ten more hits to his stats this week, as he also was a member of the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons with Greason. As his father insisted he finish high school, Mays only played with the team on weekends as a 17-year old until he graduated. While Mays is still living in California, he has been unable to sign for quite some time, and even when he could, his signature commanded triple figures at card shows. Counterfeits abound so proceed with caution.
PSA-certified examples will likely set you back at least $150 for even damaged or faded examples.
Ron Teasley
Teasley only played two games as an outfielder for the 1948 New York Cubans, driving in two runs on a single and a double in seven plate appearances. He played briefly with the PONY League’s Olean Oilers that year, a Brooklyn affiliate, then spent two years in the independent Mandak league before going into teaching and coaching three sports in his hometown of Detroit, as well as working in sports writing and photography.
At age 97, he still lives in Detroit and signs via his home address for $20. He also had autos in the 2010 Allen & Ginter set.
Monte Irvin
A three-time leader of the Negro National League in batting average and the NL leader in RBI in 1951, Monte Irvin was the first Black player in New York Giants history. Throughout his life, Irvin was a solid TTMer for $10 an item until his vision began to fail him in 2013, followed by his 2016 death at age 96.
If you missed out, his autograph is still very affordable: several photos, cards, and Hall of Fame plaque postcards are on eBay right now for $40 or less.
Minnie Minoso
I’ve heard a lot from critics this week about how Negro League players’ offensive numbers took a dip when they reached the American and National Leagues. Not so, and Minoso is one of many players to prove that: the great Cuban outfielder was a .313 hitter in the Negro Leagues, and met or surpassed that number in three of his first four American League seasons. He hit at least .300 in eight of his first ten seasons and led the league in triples and steals three times each.
Minnie was a great signer at $15 per item up until his 2015 death at age 91. In hindsight, I wish I had sent my 1962 and 1963 Topps cards off to him. You can find a few signed and certified items right now for $40-$60.
Leon Day
I mentioned Iwo Jima earlier, but with the 80th anniversary of Operation Overlord’s invasion of Normandy coming this past week, it’s worth noting that Day is one of at least two pro ballplayers to have been involved in the Operation and to have survived it– Yogi Berra being the other. Prior to the War, Day was a five-time All-Star and led the 1942 Negro National League in strikeouts. After the war, he led the NNL in wins in 1946 with 13. Day went on to play in the St. Louis Browns organization for a few years, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame less than a week before his death in 1995.
Although he’s been deceased for almost 20 years, signed photos of him are also very affordable.
Buck Leonard
Now 8th all-time in batting average and 11th all-time in slugging percentage, Buck was one of the first three Negro League players inducted into the Hall of Fame (Josh Gibson went in with Leonard in 1972, following Satchel Paige’s 1971 induction). Leonard led the NNL in home runs three times, batting average twice, and was an All-Star in 11 of his 14 seasons.
His signature won’t set you back much more than a few bucks (sorry, I had to): with signed photos, balls, and Hall of Fame plaque postcards all being available for anywhere from $25-100, I feel his autograph is criminally undervalued for as great as he was. I may even have to go out and pick one up myself this week.
Related Stories:
TTM This Week: Music and Baseball, Haul of Hall of Fame Autographs
TTM This Week: National Talk; Next Gem; a Mailbox Full of Hall of Famer Autographs
TTM This Week: 1970s NFL Talk, Hockey and The Week’s Autograph Returns
TTM This Week: Standing on a Corner in Phoenix, Arizona (Part 1)
TTM This Week: Collecting Gators, Latest Returns, Football Practice, and a Long Lost Hobby Commercial
TTM This Week: Baseball In-Person and Reader Origin Stories
TTM This Week: Hall of Famer Rookies and Set Hits, and Caveat Emptor on a World Series MVP
TTM This Week: Talking Topps Heritage; All-Star Autograph Preparations
