Lot 555. Rare! A History of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues. John B. Foster wrote this book, published in 1926, to commemorate the association’s Silver Jubilee. In 160 pages, Foster summarizes the history of minor league baseball and the association from 1902-26. First edition hardback without a dust jacket, apparently as published. Some numbskull has removed all of the photo plates; the text is complete. Otherwise, the book is vg-ex. Excellent reference and reading. You won’t find this book offered by the thousands on the Internet.
Winning Bid $25.
Lot 556. Numbered Reprint of Jacob Morse’s 1888 Sphere and Ash: History of Base Ball. A journalist in late 19th century Boston, Morse did much to help boost baseball from a backyard whimsy to the National Pastime. He was personally involved in the early New England League and the upstart New England Association before losing his day job at the Boston Herald. Subsequently, in 1908, he started Baseball Magazine, one of the first publications dedicated to sports. The 62-page Sphere and Ash is a priceless reference for understanding the early game. In 1984, Camden House Library of Baseball Classics faithfully reprinted a copy held at Cooperstown. This leather-bound copy, produced without a dust jacket, is numbered 485/500 and is nm.
Winning Bid $35.
Lot 557. Early 1900s American Collotype The Big League Illustrated Child’s Baseball Book. The Chicago-based American Collotype Co. published this stapled soft-cover pamphlet. It is variously dated as a product of the 1890s and the 1920s. “Collotype” was a type of printing that originated in the 1800s. Including the cover, five full-color pages of boys in 1890s garb illustrate the story of two neighborhood baseball teams at play. The book measures 3 ¾” x 5 1/8” with 12 pages. Ex+ with a couple of 1/16” edge tears.
Winning Bid $50.
Lot 558. Early “How To” Baseball Book – “Baseball: Individual Play and Team Play in Detail” by W. J. Clarke of Princeton and Frederick T. Dawson of Union College. Hardback, no dust jacket apparently as issued, 1915 copyright by Scribner’s, published in 1924, vg+ with ex contents.
Winning Bid $15.
Lot 559. Babe Ruth as I knew him by Waite Hoyt. Published by Dell in 1948 following Ruth’s death, this magazine-style publication is comparatively difficult to find. It was prepared by Hoyt, the Hall of Fame pitcher, who was Ruth’s teammate for 10 years, and good friend. The 50-page publication is full of photographs and facts about Ruth. The covers are largely separated, but still adhered to the interior. Vg with ex contents.
Winning Bid $25.
Lot 560. 1948 The (Boston) Braves: The Pick and the Shovel by Al Hirsberg. Calamity after calamity dogged the Braves for decades after their 1914 “Miracle Win” over Connie Mack’s A’s. Hirshberg traces the Braves’ history through 1948, when Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain pitched them to the World Series. Foreword by new Hall of Fame member Billy Southworth. Vg+ apparent first edition, vg price-clipped dj.
Winning Bid $40.
Lot 561. 6 Baseball “How To” Books Including Joe DiMaggio’s Baseball for Everyone. All hardbacks, all without dust jackets unless otherwise noted. Most of the owner’s name on the front end-page or title page. The 1948 DiMaggio book is an apparent first edition, vg. The book with its dj is The Real Book About Baseball, Lyman Hopkins, 1951, vg+ book and dj. The other books: The Official Encyclopedia of Little League Baseball, Hy Turkin, 1954, ex+. How to Watch a Baseball Game, Fred Schwed, Jr., 1957, vg+ to ex. Baseball, Daniel Jessee (Trinity College baseball coach), soiled cover, nicely illustrated vg+ to ex interior including a Gehrig photo. The Dictionary of Baseball, Parke Cummings, 1950, ex-library with usual markings, otherwise ex.
Minimum Bid $20.
Lot 562. 75th Anniversary of the National League Official History, Two Other Books. Published in 1951, the N.L. history contains 90+ pages of anecdotes and photographs. Vg hardcover without a dj, as published. The other books: 2. A Baseball Album, Gerald Couzens, 1973 first edition, nm book, dj. Great reading with articles by various writers. 3. Schenley 1981 Handbook of Baseball, Zander Hollander, ex. Contains profiles of players for each team.
Minimum Bid $15.
Lot 563. First Printing of The American Diamond by Branch Rickey. Rickey provides rare insights on the greats of the game, from Willie Mays, Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle to the 1955 Dodgers dream team of Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and Roy Campanella. Profusely illustrated with Robert Riger’s beautiful photographs and drawings; 204 pages. Ex book, vg price-clipped dust jacket in a mylar cover.
Minimum Bid $20.
Lot 564. 1958 The San Francisco Giants by Joe King. In 1958, the Giants became the first MLB team to arrive on the West Coast, inspiring King to write this book about the franchise and management’s decision to go west. Nm apparent first edition, vg dj.
Winning Bid $25.
Lot 565. Baseball Memories 1900-1909: An Illustrated Chronicle of the Big Leagues’ First Decade. Marc Okkonen’s history of baseball in the first decade of the 20th Century includes biographies of players and managers and features on cities and ballparks. Okkonen did a remarkable job of tapping museums and archives to put together this heavily illustrated 234-page book. This excellent reference is nm, and the dust jacket is in mylar.
Winning Bid $25.
Lot 566. 2 John E. Spalding Classics on Baseball in California + a SABR Publication. The self-published Spalding books are Always on Sunday: The California Baseball League, 1886 to 1915, and Sacraments Senators and Solons: Baseball in California’s Capital, 1886 to 1976. Both are soft-covers in ex-m condition. Each contains more than 175 pages of informative, readable text, photos and useful reference material. Accompanying the books is the 1998 SABR program for the annual convention held in San Francisco. It contains 64 pages of California baseball history beginning in the 1870s.
Winning Bid $61.
Lot 567. 2 Frank M. Keetz Soft-cover Books on Baseball in Schenectady. The earlier is They, Too, Were “Boys of Summer”: A Case Study of the Schenectady Blue Jays in the Eastern League 1951-1957, 190 pages, 1993, ex-m. The last of five Keetz books on Schenectady baseball is The Mohawk Colored Giants of Schenectady, 164 pages, 1999. Both books demonstrate exhaustive research and provide interesting reading.
Minimum Bid $20.
Lot 568. 8 SABR Publications: Green Cathedrals Plus Books on Regional Baseball. All are 8 ½” x 11” softcovers, and their average condition is ex-m to nm. Philip J. Lowry wrote Green Cathedrals, an excellent reference covering major and minor league ball parks. This edition is from 1986. The other publications: 1. Days of Greatness: Providence Baseball 1875-1885, edited by Leonard Levin, 1984. 2. Baseball in Chicago, edited by Emil H. Rothe, 1986. 3. Baseball in Cleveland, edited by Morris Eckhouse, 1990. 4. Baseball in Pittsburgh, edited by Paul Adomites and Dennis DeValeria, 1995. 5. Baseball in the Buckeye State, edited by Mark Stang and Dick Miller, 2004. 6. Dominion Ball: Baseball Above the 49th, edited by Jane Forward, 2005, 7. Rain Check: Baseball in the Pacific Northwest, edited by Mark Amour, 2006. These publications contain a wealth of information, and good reading too!
Minimum Bid $50.
Lot 569. 1991 The Life and Times of Nolan Ryan Four-Volume Set with Cards and Poster. This beautiful set, published by Tarrant and licensed by the MLB, contains four soft-cover books titled: The Alvin Years, Mets & Angels, Astros & Rangers and The Road to Cooperstown. In addition to the books, this issue includes a 17” x 22” “No-Hitter” poster and a set of four Nolan Ryan cards commissioned by Score. Mint sealed cards, nm set of four volumes, ex-m poster.
Minimum Bid $20.
