1951 Topps Red Back #8 - Early Wynn

I hope everyone has had a great Thanksgiving.  I am full from turkey and German potato salad.  YUM!  I fulfilled my goal of not going out of the house today into all of the craziness that is Black Friday.  I have sold a few cards today during my Black Friday promotion (special thanks to GCRL for picking up some stuff from me).  I have a promotion going all weekend, through Cyber Monday, so keep checking my COMC for deals and help me clear that stuff out.

Now onto our regularly scheduled blog for the day:

Here is card #8, Early Wynn.  I posted about Wynn recently when I picked up his signed baseball.  You can read about that here.

Wynn (b. 1920 - d. 1999) played in the majors from 1941 to 1944, 1946 to 1963 for the Senators, Indains and White Sox.  He finished his career with exactly 300 wins (paired with 244 losses), a 3.54 ERA and 2,334 strikeouts.  He is one of two pitchers (Lefty Grove being the other) who retired with exactly 300 wins.

He appeared in two World Series (1954 and 1959) with the Indians and White Sox.  He also won a Cy Young Award in 1959 and was a 7-time All Star.  He finished as high as 3rd in the AL MVP voting (1959).

Wynn was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972 (his 4th ballot) when he received 76.0% of the vote.

Hall of Fame: 3
Deceased: 7

Hall of Fame Signed Baseball - Early Wynn

It has been quite a while since I have been able to add Hall of Fame signed baseballs to my collection.  I have been really busy with work and have been knocking out cards from my want list.  However, I checked out an ad on the side of my Facebook (most of which are scams, but this one turned out to be legit) for an online estate auction and I was not disappointed.  I ended up spending approximately $120 on two signed baseballs, a signed 8x10 for my son's birthday and a vintage pennant.

The first signed baseball, which is my 77th Hall of Famer, is signed by former pitcher Early Wynn.  Wynn (b. 1920 - d. 1999) played in the majors from 1939, 1941-1944 and 1946-1963 for the Senators, Indians and White Sox.  He had a career record of 300-244, 2,334 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.54.  He was the winner of the 1959 AL Cy Young Award and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972, his third year on the ballot, with 76.0% of the vote.

I'm really happy to add the Wynn ball to my collection.  He has a really awesome signature.  The ball is a Bobby Brown OAL baseball and still has the original box.  Wynn's signature on a ball usually goes for around $115 to $120, but I was able to get this one from the estate auction for $45.  Very awesome!  Stay tuned for the next signed ball that I got from the auction.

Another Pickup in Cooperstown

A final piece I was able to get in Cooperstown is the above official MLB 2130-2131 logo baseball. I got this ball from the same shop that I got the previously mentioned Ferrell and Herman baseballs. I have recently decided that I would like to get some older (maybe antique) baseballs and display them in my man cave. I asked the guy in the shop if he had any old baseballs, he laughed and said "I have boxes of them..."

He brought out a box that had a bunch of baseballs in it and let me take a look. I found the Ripken ball and took out an older looking one that had some faded signatures on it. I asked him if he'd be willing to sell one of the baseballs that had a bunch of signatures on it, and he said he might after taking a better look at them. He pulls out a magnifying glass and looks at one of the balls. "Oh, that says Ed Ford on it... well that's Whitey Ford. Oh wait, that is Mickey Mantle on the sweet spot! Its faded but you can see, its him..."

Yep, it was Mantle, alright. Dang, I wasn't going to be able to get that ball. I picked up one that looked older, it was definitely an Official League Spalding Ball that also had some faded signatures on it. He looks at it and points out: Bob Feller, Early Wynn and Buck Leonard among the signatures. The ball also had 1976 induction written on it. Jeez. I helped this guy find at least two baseballs that were worth LOTS of money. He did give me a nice deal on the Ferrell and Herman baseballs and also threw in a signed post card that I will discuss in my next post. I thought you guys would love to hear about my almost epic pickups though... Almost.