Frank Selee was one of the first great managers in baseball history, a slight, mustachioed man with no professional playing experience but an excellent judge of talent and adept tinkerer. Selee gained his most fame with the Boston Beaneaters, joining them in 1890 as a 30-year-old skipper with a wealth of minor league managing experience. The Beaneaters, crippled by numerous defections to the Players League, finished fifth in the National League in Selee’s first season, but earned the pennant in 1891. Behind stars Kid Nichols, Harry Stovey, and John Clarkson, the Beaneaters became the toast of the NL, winning pennants in 1891, 1892, and 1893 under the shrewd Selee.

     Selee led the Beaneaters to two more pennants, in 1897 and 1898, before tight-fisted ownership let Selee walk after the 1901 season. Selee immediately joined the Chicago Orphans, the precursor to the Cubs, where he brought players such as Mordecai Brown, Frank Chance, Joe Tinker, and Johnny Evers to the team. Tragically, a diagnosis of tuberculosis forced Selee away from the game after 1905, a year before the Cubs appeared in the World Series, with the legendary skipper retiring to the fresh mountain air of Colorado. Although he returned to managing with the Class A Pueblo Indians, Selee would succumb to tuberculosis in 1909, at the age of 49. In 1999, Selee was honored with his long overdue induction to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, becoming the first New Hampshire native enshrined in Cooperstown.

     Selee signed this cut in black fountain pen as “Frank G. Selee”. “Manager” is written on the cut below Selee’s name, and “Boston Club” is written on the top of the page the cut is affixed to. This item has been encapsulated and authenticated by PSA/DNA (84043037).

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