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Baseball Books
4 Lots
 Lot 252. 1889 “Athletic Sports in America, England and Australia” - Including Baseball. This pioneering book by Henry Clay Palmer focuses on Al Spalding’s 1889 baseball good will tour of four continents. It contains more than 400 pages of baseball history, including 300 pages by Palmer, a Chicago journalist, on the tour itself. It also has a three-page preface by Henry Chadwick, generally regarded as the “father of baseball.” Extremely interesting read, but also valuable for its hundreds of illustrations. It contains a dozen full-page b&w photos of the Baltimore, Brooklyn, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Louisville, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Saint Louis and Washington Ball Clubs. The frontispiece is an amazing full-page chromolithograph of the Chicago and All- American Team Exhibition Game at the Crystal Palace Grounds in London. Published by Hubbard Brothers in 1889, the book is complete with all three chromoliths, including one picturing the Chicago and All-America teams. The covers are largely detached from the interior. The pages are free of problems and ex-m.
Winning Bid $150.
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 Lot 253. Scarce Autobiography of Baseball Pioneer and Hall of Fame Player Cap Anson (HoF). The Hall of Fame first baseman didn’t spare any words in creating a title for his book: “A Ball Player’s Career: Being the Personal Experiences and Reminiscences of Adrian C. Anson, Late Manager and Captain of the Chicago Baseball Club.” First edition hardback, 1900, from Era Publishing. The book is complete. Water has slightly to moderately warped the pages throughout. Owners’ names are inside the front cover, on the flyleaf and on the first title page. Toward the front, a page with a photo of Anson is loose and chipped, warped and stained. Water damage is more pronounced in the first 20 pages than in the rest of the book. The covers are faded and stained, and the top of the spine shows a tear. The book won’t win any awards for beauty, but it is fully readable. It offers significant insights on Anson’s view of baseball and life. In a 22-season career, he collected 3,012 hits, drove in 1,880 runs and batted .331. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1939.
Minimum Bid $70.
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 Lot 254. Rare Hardbound “Professional Base Ball in America 1921.” This little volume is subtitled “A Compilation of the Agreements and Rules which define the Relations of Leagues, Clubs and Players.” Published in the aftermath of the Black Sox scandal, it contains a “Pledge to Support the Commissioner,” endorsed by Charles Comiskey, William Veeck (Sr.), Clark Griffith, Connie Mack, Barney Dreyfuss, Branch Rickey, Charles Ebbets and other baseball officials. The 110-page 5” x 6 ¾” book also presents the Major League Agreement, Major-Minor League Agreement and Rules, National Board of Arbitration Rules and Regulations, player contracts and other documents. George W. Pepper, a Philadelphia lawyer who later served in the U.S. Senate, wrote the foreword. The Advisory Council of Chicago published the book, which has leather covers. There are a couple of pencil revisions inside; otherwise, this seldom-seen publication is ex.
Winning Bid $95.
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 Lot 255. “Adios to Ghosts” by Sports Agent Christy Walsh with His Signature and Original Art. Although others may have served in the role of “agent” before Walsh, none can challenge his claim to being the first highly successful sports agent. His clients included Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, and he found ways to help many of them to make and save substantial sums. Once a sports cartoonist, Walsh formed a syndicate of writers who ghost-wrote articles attributed to a host of baseball stars. These articles produced income for the players and Walsh’s business. Among Walsh’s ghost writers were Ford Frick, the future Baseball Commissioner, and Damon Runyon. In “Adios to Ghosts,” self-published in 1937, Walsh provides information on his business and baseball history. The book cover has the names of baseball players that Walsh’s syndicate wrote for: Ruth, Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Carl Hubbell, Walter Johnson, etc. The names of ghost writers are also present; for example, Pittsburgh sportswriter Chet Smith apparently ghosted for Honus Wagner. On the book’s flyleaf, Walsh made use of his capability as an illustrator. There, he placed an original drawing that incorporates the initials of the book’s recipient – “H.B.S.” Below, he wrote “with appreciation and good wishes Christy Walsh.” Kevin Keating authenticated the signature, which is mint 9. The book contains two cartoons by Walsh, one of Eddie Rickenbacker. Photos show him with Ruth, Gehrig, Wagner, Joe DiMaggio and other stars. The book is extensively illustrated and is a quick, well written humorous read. Ex. Walsh passed away in 2005.
Winning Bid $110.
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