Hidden Treasures in Mississippi Part 3 - Trip to Japan and Autographs

One of the coolest things Mr. McNair showed me was in a briefcase he brought with him to dinner.  Inside the briefcase was an album that was given to Eric McNair when he was a member of the 1934 barnstorming team that toured Japan right before World War II.

The team featured players such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty O'Doul, Earl Averill, Eric McNair and were managed by the legendary Connie Mack.  One of the players, catcher Moe Berg, was even spying on the Japanese for the US government.  This story was featured in the book The Catcher Was a Spy.

Also in the album was some other autographs, one of which was this index card of Hall of Famer, Lefty Grove.  The coolest thing in the briefcase, though, was this framed paper signed by members of the 1934 barnstorming team.  Click on the photo if you can see the signatures, but Ruth, Mack, Foxx, Gehrig are all clear and legible.  All of these autographs are real, no copies here!

Pretty darn amazing, if you ask me.  Below is a photo of the team and Mr. Mack.  Lots of great players on that team.  I plan on reading the book about Moe Berg after I finish Eight Men Out.

So, these posts have been the highlights of my meeting with Mr. Don McNair, son of former big leaguer Eric McNair.  I met up with Mr. McNair's son Eric, III (grandson of Eric McNair) the next day for lunch.  He is also a really nice guy who turned me toward something really cool while I was in Birmingham, AL, so look for a post on that coming soon!

2009 Topps Series II 3 Jumbo Box break by the numbers:

Yesterday, Max (http://maxscards.blogspot.com/), Pete (http://dropped3rdstrike.blogspot.com/) and I busted a case of Series II Topps at the card shop. I opened 3 of the jumbo boxes, Pete got 2 and Max got one. I'm sure each of them will be blogging on their finds shortly, but as far as what I ended up with, here is a breakdown of what I WENT HOME with (I traded out/for a few things to Max and Pete, so they will probably talk about them on their blogs).

27: Turkey Red Inserts

3: Career Best Legends- Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson and Mel Ott

3: Red Hot Rookie Redemptions - 1, 2, 10

3: Topps Black - Howie Kendrick, Jonathan Papelbon and Carlos Quentin

29: Ring of Honor

13: WBC cards (I did pull a sweet Russell Martin GU jersey card in the first pack I busted, but it went to Max immediately)

5: Career Best autos/relics

30: Topps Gold

31: Legends of the Game (I picked up a sweet Brooks Robinson)

29: Topps Town

3: SP Variations (Paul Molitor, Robin Yount and Carl Yazstrzemski)

3: Legends Commemorative Patches - George Sisler, Mickey Mantle and Lou Gehrig

Once again, I had a blast opening these boxes with my friends. I think I can speak for everyone there and say that a good time was had by all. This set will definitely go down for me as one of the most enjoyable that I have put together, not only because of the quality of cards, but the quality of people that were involved in the process of me working out this deal. For me to be able to sit around and bust wax with people who I can truly call my friends, well, this was a gratifying experience. I want to thank Pete, P.A. and Max for taking or maintaining an interest in something that interests me. I hope you guys can all go on this ride with me again soon when Allen and Ginter comes out!