Winter Auction 2015 closing February 7
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/8/2015
This fantastic physical artifact is a tremendous souvenir from the 1911 World Series between the New York Giants and Philadelphia Athletics (just the eighth Series played between the rival National and American leagues) and a testament to the lost art of keeping score.
The cover of the 12-page “Official Score Card World’s Championship Series” features an oval portrait of Giants owner John T. Brush above an artist’s rendering of the Polo Grounds field also identified here as “Brush Stadium.” Owner of the Giants since 1890, Brush died just shortly after the 1912 season.
The 1911 date and 10-cent price are also printed on the program’s cover with the godfather of ballpark concessions “Harry M. Stevens” given credit as “Publisher” in the lower right hand corner.
Five portraits of the Major League brass appear on the program’s opening page including National League President Thomas Lynch and American League President Ban Johnson. A Giants team photo shares page three with advertisements for Bull Durham tobacco and White Rock water.
A diligent accounting of the Giants at-bats is recorded in pencil on the first scorecard page which already contained the Giants probable batting order for the day’s game, including a possible platoon of Chief Meyers or Art Wilson catching and batting eighth. The two runs on three hits recorded by the Giants in 11 innings reveal that the scorecard was used for Game Three of the Series won by the Athletics 3-2. The Athletics scorecard was kept as meticulously as the Giants page with every single at bat accounted for. The scorekeeper had to utilize the AB (at-bat) column on both pages to score the 11th inning and add an at-bat column to the existing grid. Philadelphia’s Frank “Home Run” Baker’s ninth inning home run off Giants hurler Christy Mathewson is easily legible as 4B (for four bases).
The Athletics team photo appears on page eight above an advertisement for Ye Olde Watchman Whisky. Page nine is occupied by a full page ad for A.G. Spalding’s America’s National Game book. Portraits of the Giants brass including Owner Brush and manager John McGraw appear on page 10 opposite advertisements for Carl H, Schultz’s varieties of soda, Coca Cola and Knickerbocker Beer. Page 11 is stamped with a “Nov. 11, 1955” proof of sale revealing that the program has been sold before.
Seven Hall of Famers participated in the 1911 World Series including: Frank Baker, Eddie Collins, Eddie Plank and manager Connie Mack for the Phillies and Rube Marquard, Christy Mathewson and manager John McGraw for the Giants. This 103-year-old program remains in good condition with some water spotting on the cover which has also become unstapled from the interior pages but the actual scorecard pages are completely legible and in excellent condition and might be the program’s strongest selling point.