Auction Item Details
Lot 822
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Lot Number: 822
Description: Significant May 16, 1878 Lynn Live Oaks vs. Tecumseh BBC trophy baseball. Early figure eight style baseball in period dark brown paint has hand drawn gilt over red lettering listing the game score and date. Overall condition is very fine retaining excellent original surface. Incredibly historic ball in that the Live Oak team from Lynn, MA included the first African American professional baseball player in the history of the game. Having begun his career with the Live Oaks in late April 1878, Bud Fowler is universally regarded as the original pioneer of African Americans in professional baseball. Fowler went on to play in various leagues for several teams through the 1890s including the Western and International Leagues. Born John Jackson, he elected to use the name Bud Fowler at the beginning of his baseball career, which ironically started on the sandlots of a small town in New York by the name of Cooperstown. To think that Fowler may have held this baseball during the game in 1878 is simply astonishing. Includes letter of provenance from the Hornung family: EX
Estimated Price: ($2,500.00-$3,500.00)
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