Auction Item Details
Lot 137
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Lot Number: 137
Description: Historically significant original line up cards from the inaugural 1933 All-Star Game. The Great Depression of the 1930s severely damaged American culture as it was known at the time, including the game of baseball, which experienced dwindling crowds and enormous financial challenges. In an effort to spur interest in the national pastime, the sports editor for the Chicago Tribune, Arch Ward, approached officials of the American and National Leagues. Ward's idea was pit the best of both leagues against each other in an All-Star game to be played in Chicago in conjunction with the "Century of Progress Exhibition". Set for Comiskey Park on July 6, 1933, before a huge crowd of 49,200, the game featured the finest players of the period including Gehrig, Gomez, Foxx, Klein, Simmons, Grove, Cronin, Terry, Frisch, and Babe Ruth. Appropriately, the American and National League teams were led by managers Connie Mack and John McGraw, respectively. The two grand old men of baseball had been battling each other on the field for nearly 30 years, dating back to their epic contests as managers of the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Giants. Serving as coaches under manager McGraw were Max Carey and Bill McKechnie, both of whom would eventually be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The offered line up cards from the 1933 All-Star game were discovered within the personal collection of Bill McKechnie. Included are one each for the American and National League teams. Written in the hand of manager Connie Mack, the American League card lists player names including Ruth, Gehrig, Simmons, Cronin, and Grove. The card has been signed "Mack" at the bottom right hand corner by Connie Mack. The National League card was written in the hand of coach Bill McKechnie, listing the names of such players as Frisch, Klein, Hafey, Waner, Wilson, and Hartnett. The card remains unsigned. "Chicago Special Ground Rules" is printed on the reverse of both lineup cards. Appropriately, "Chicago" is printed at the top front of the NL card indicating the home team field (ironically, the stadium was home to the AL White Sox not the NL Cubs). The AL card has no city indication under the title line at the top. Both cards have some light age toning and the backs each have some slight adhesive residue from period scrapbook removal. The AL card has a vertical center line crease and the NL card has a few minor line creases. The front of the cards were originally written in pencil and enhanced, in the period, in black fountain pen by McKechnie himself. Amazingly, included with the lineup cards is a dated July 8, 1958 typewritten note sent to Bill McKechnie from the Sporting News. Signed by Lowell Reidenbaugh of the Editorial Department, the note thanks McKechnie for having loaned the lineup cards to the publication. The cards were featured on page #10 in the July 9, 1958 issue of "The Sporting News" celebrating the history of the All-Star game. An excerpt of the letter written by McKechnie to the Sporting News was printed under an image of the lineup cards, which reads in part, "I am enclosing the official batting orders for the game. Connie Mack made out the American League order and I filled out the National's. I don't believe I kept the substitutions throughout the game." To have primary source, first hand corroboration of such an historic item is exceedingly uncommon, with note to the added fact that the cards are also pictured in the Sporting News. Lineup cards of this magnitude are exceptionally rare for the obvious reason of original scarcity (only a few were issued per game) and the fact that they typically remained with the manager of the team. Together with the 1903 World Series, the 1933 All-Star game defines the word "inception" for Major League play. The countless magical moments that have occurred in the 70+ years since the 1933 game are engrained in the history of baseball and the country itself. The offered lineup cards are without question the most historically significant to have been offered publicly and are almost certainly the most significant of any cards extant today. Includes letter of provenance from James McKechnie (Grandson of Bill McKechnie), a July 9, 1958 issue of the Sporting News, and LOA from James Spence Authentication (Mack signature): VG-EX
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