Summer Premium and Catalog Auction July 31 & Aug 8
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/31/2015
This single document, crafted and signed well over a century ago, played a significant role in the formation of Major League Baseball as we know it today.
With the National League standing as the only “Major” league in existence, Byron “Ban” Johnson and Charles Comiskey sought to change the landscape in the final years of the 19th century. Under their guidance, the struggling Western League built a sizable following, and in late 1899 the decision was made to change the name to the “American League of Professional Baseball Clubs.”
On March 15, 1900, the enterprising duo signed this very document, leasing land for construction of a new ballpark in Chicago, securing the transfer of the St. Paul Saints into the team that would be called the Chicago White Stockings. Though the American League would not officially be formed until six days later, the agreement refers to “the American League Base Ball Club of Chicago,” in perhaps the earliest recorded reference to what is now known as the Junior Circuit.
As would be expected considering its vintage, this three-page typewritten agreement on legal paper exhibits water staining and separations along the folds, yet the signatures of the two pioneers on the third page – with Comiskey having signed in three places and Johnson using the more formal “Byron B” – remain bold and legible. All three pages are mounted in a 33x47” shadowbox with ornate frame, and included are photographs of the period, head shots of both men, and images of their respective Hall of Fame plaques. Affixed to the back is a pair of cards, one explaining the significance of the documents and the other featuring a timeline of key events.
In 1901, the American League was officially classified as a Major League, with the White Stockings joining seven other charter members, including the Baltimore Orioles (which would eventually become the New York Yankees), Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Americans, Washington Senators, Milwaukee Brewers, and Cleveland Blues. Worthy of a spot in the hallowed halls of the most devout baseball historian, this one-of-a-kind treasure is now available to the general public.