Collector Auction, February 15, 2025
Open house Friday, February 14 from 4 PM to 6 PM. Doors open Saturday 8 AM. Auction starts 9 AM.
Ain't Misbehavin'
There's always one guy in every crowd. Meet New York Giants baseball manager John Joseph McGraw. As a player in 1890, he helped win the pennant for the Baltimore Orioles. From his field position he advanced to coaching with the Giants spanning thirty years, from 1902 to 1932. Aggressive, ornery, McGraw fought his way from poverty and onto the baseball diamond.
1912 World Series press pin.
Boston Red Sox versus the New York Giants. Boston in four games.
Eight games in total were played as one game tied, stopped due to darkness.
If there was any advantage against opposing teams, he pressed it. Intimidation against players, even umpires, was one of his many tricks. The Baltimore Chop was perfected by him and his teammates. A batter would intentionally hit the pitched ball to bounce on the ground before the plate. This aerial launch, with the baseball hopping above the fielders' gloves, insured enough time for the batter to reach first base. To further the bounce, the groundskeeper packed clay with the dirt at home plate and to weigh the odds, never watered the infield. Such were his shenanigans. John McGraw was suspended from the Orioles during the 1902 season by a very displeased American League president aptly named Ban Johnson.
1913 World Series press pin. Philadelphia Athletics (A's) versus New York Giants. A's in four games to one. Whitehead & Hoag, Newark, NJ.
New Arrivals Carry Old Baggage
Instantly, McGraw was hired by the New York Giants. There he blossomed. In his career, he won ten pennants and three World Series, retiring with the best win/loss record in Major League history. Still, roguery was in perpetuity. And it is for this we pay homage.
1914 World Series press pin. Philadelphia Athletics versus Boston Braves.
Braves in a four-game shutout. Bent & Bush Co. Boston Mass.
1915 World Series press pin. Boston Red Sox versus Philadelphia Phillies.
Boston in four. Bent & Bush Co., Boston, Mass.
Ruler followers are rarely remembered. It is the bold, the rascallion, who force innovation. Good and bad.
Several years ago, we met Smokey Yunich, a character similar to John McGraw. Smokey's field of combat was stock car racing. He was years ahead with his spoiler designs and, the best advancement, race cars camouflaged under stock bodies. His ideas often met disqualification at the track. Yet, in the passage of time, he appears prescient. McGraw didn't reinvent baseball, but his continual controversary set a market for today's collector.
10k yellow gold Connie Mack Philadelphia Athletics fiftieth anniversary - 1894-1944. These tie bars were given to VIP celebrants honoring Connie Mack. The trail to whom the pin belonged has been lost.
The Pressed Box
Major League sports have always benefited from sports writers. Never was this more apparent than in the pre-radio broadcast period. So, a seat in the stadium press box was coveted.
Philadelphia National League Base Ball Club season pass for 1925.
The National Leagues golden jubilee. J.E. Caldwell, Jeweler.
Arrive the 1911 World Series. One of John McGraw's favorite ploys was to fill the press box with his cronies, not sports writers. Free passes. Outstanding seats. This year the Philadelphia A's faced the New York Giants. Sports writer Stephen Grauley and close friend A's manager Connie Mack, anticipating McGraw's move, created the press pin, allowing access to the box only be those wearing them. McGraw checkmated. From this moment on, in each successive year, a specifically designed pin for participating teams was produced. Today, they are collectible. All thanks to a misbehaving man.
Medallion engraved - National League P.B.B., Golden Jubilee, 1925, Admit S.W. Grauley, #100. The Grauley family was infamous in the Philadelphia Sports Writer circle. We found none with the middle initial W.
Waking A Sleeping Giant
McGraw's legacy doesn't stop here. Upon his departure from Baltimore in 1902, he jumped from the American League to the National. Not one to remain quiet, he openly castigated the American League, specifically targeting the Philadelphia Athletics. He ridiculed Ben Shibe, owner of the A's. Shibe had constructed the expensive Shibe Park in North Philadelphia, and to fill his roster, paid the highest salaries in the league.
Sterling flask - American Base Ball Club of Philadelphia, circle logo featuring the white elephant, crossed bats, and the club name Athletics, 5 ¾" H.
Mouth McGraw shrieked from the seventh level. Shibe has a white elephant. Now, the white elephant story comes from the King of Siam. A wise king uses his head. A stupid one loses it. What the King did to his least popular courtiers was gift them a white elephant.
1916 World Fair press pins, matching teams. Boston Red Sox versus Boston Red Robins. Red Sox in four. Dieges & Clust; Bent & Bush Co., respectively.
Prized as the highest of treasures, these pachyderms were expensive pets. Trophies, they were never used for labor. So, high maintenance would bankrupt the stoutest of men. Thus, the inference. The only problem in the series? The A's pulverized the Giants. Reversing an insult is quite a skill. Very soon, the image of white elephants appeared on programs, jerseys, and eventually as mascots. Philadelphia adopted the logo rubbing some memorable dung into McGraw's mouth.
How the world turns. We run the bases, play the games. The best life has to offer is often from unusual incidents. Any wonder Americans love baseball? No wonder at all. And spring training is right around the corner. Here, in Buckingham, it starts on February 15th.
Doors open at 8 AM. Auction starts at 9 AM. Open house Friday, February 14 from 4 PM to 6 PM. [bb]
For private inspection, please request. 215 794 7630. PA AU 1265L