Opening Day Auction Closing May 9th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/10/2015
Rube Oldring was the starting left fielder on Connie Mack's World Champion A's teams of the teens. During his prime Oldring was a .300 hitter possessed a rare ability to both hit for power and beat out a bunt when needed. In the dead ball era his 5 home runs in 1913 was quite an accomplishment and that year the Philadelphia fans voted him the most popular player on the team. A fluke injury kept him from playing in the 1910 World Series but Rube was a key contributed to the 1911 and 1913 World Champion A's. Mack dismantled his pennant machine after 1914 and Rube spent more and more time on his farm in New Jersey. He spent all of 1917 on his farm, during which time the HopeWell Township High School in New Jersey presented the ball player with this trophy. We did not know what Rube did to merit the award, but he must have given a talk to the students or perhaps even gave some pointers to the school's baseball team. The trophy has been ornately engraved on the front "Presented to Reuben Oldring by the Pupils of The Hopewell Township HS For His Kindness To them 1917". The trophy is 13 1/2" tall and sits on a 6" diameter wood base. The piece shows tarnishing with age and the base has accumulated some scuffs and nicks side it was presented to Rube almost 100 years ago. A very stately tribute to a key member of Connie Mack's first World Championship dynasty.