1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,800 GUEST: This is the day the Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown, New York, on June 12, 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:09,800 1939. And my grandfather was there. He rode the train from New York City on that day. 3 00:00:11,900 --> 00:00:15,433 It was called the Cavalcade of Baseball. He got the majority of the original inductees' 4 00:00:15,433 --> 00:00:19,233 autographs there that day. He told me when I was probably ten years old that he hid 5 00:00:19,233 --> 00:00:24,100 in the bathroom after the Old-Timers' Game or the All-Star Game that day. And as they 6 00:00:24,100 --> 00:00:27,133 were having the reception, he, I guess he came out of the bathroom and everybody was 7 00:00:27,133 --> 00:00:31,833 there. All these greats of baseball at the time were in the reception hall, and he, 8 00:00:31,833 --> 00:00:35,333 that's where he got everybody's autograph. That would've been an impressive room to be in. 9 00:00:35,333 --> 00:00:40,300 APPRAISER: Country's coming out of the Depression. This meant a lot. College football and baseball. 10 00:00:40,966 --> 00:00:42,933 GUEST: Right. 11 00:00:42,933 --> 00:00:45,166 APPRAISER: That's, that's what it was all about back then. You've got heroes, 12 00:00:45,166 --> 00:00:46,833 you've got titans, you've got guys retiring. Now how are we going to celebrate 'em? Oh, 13 00:00:46,833 --> 00:00:49,466 I got it, we'll enshrine them. Whose autograph did he get? 14 00:00:49,466 --> 00:00:54,433 GUEST: Well, I guess the most famous one that everybody knows is Babe Ruth. Then there's Walter 15 00:00:56,766 --> 00:00:59,900 Johnson, and there's Honus Wagner. And there's Cy Young and Connie Mack. And there's Larry Lajoie 16 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:06,933 and there's Tris Speaker, and... But he never got Ty Cobb's autograph. He wasn't there yet, 17 00:01:06,933 --> 00:01:10,700 in that famous picture right here. Ty Cobb's not in that picture. I think as 18 00:01:10,700 --> 00:01:14,300 far as autographs go, he's got 80% of them, of those guys right there. 19 00:01:14,300 --> 00:01:18,733 APPRAISER: It's a large program, and you had some other signers. They simply weren't as significant 20 00:01:18,733 --> 00:01:23,733 as these guys. Everything there is to see and all the autographs there are to have-- but Ty Cobb-- 21 00:01:25,966 --> 00:01:28,866 are on this page. Really strong autographs, it's a delicate piece. There's age-induced wear and 22 00:01:30,966 --> 00:01:34,733 toning, the kind of thing you expect. How'd your grandfather come to possess the photo? 23 00:01:34,733 --> 00:01:38,766 GUEST: Actually, later years, I found out about the photo, and I acquired it. 24 00:01:38,766 --> 00:01:43,433 APPRAISER: What we have here is just a nice image of all the men sitting there that day, 25 00:01:43,433 --> 00:01:47,266 enjoying being enshrined, being beloved. You familiar with who's on here? 26 00:01:47,266 --> 00:01:51,300 GUEST: Babe Ruth's in the middle, and, and that's Connie Mack sitting beside Babe Ruth. 27 00:01:51,300 --> 00:01:54,833 APPRAISER: That's... What's funny is, they, they made Honus stand, he's, he's over on the far left, 28 00:01:54,833 --> 00:01:59,800 standing, staring menacingly at Ruth. "Hey, you got my, you got my seat, kid." (laughs) Um, yeah, 29 00:02:01,933 --> 00:02:04,066 there's Ruth in the middle, next to Connie Mack. And you got Walter Johnson standing 30 00:02:04,066 --> 00:02:08,833 on the far right, as well-- it's a who's who. (laughing) It's a great photo, not original. 31 00:02:10,166 --> 00:02:10,966 GUEST: No. APPRAISER: But it's a nice showpiece. 32 00:02:10,966 --> 00:02:12,500 GUEST: It is, it is. 33 00:02:12,500 --> 00:02:14,333 APPRAISER: On its own, not a lot of value, couple bucks. 34 00:02:14,333 --> 00:02:16,466 GUEST: Right, right. 35 00:02:16,466 --> 00:02:19,033 APPRAISER: I want to poke fun at you for shellacking this page, and I don't want to 36 00:02:19,033 --> 00:02:23,900 name names and who did what. It's not the worst thing you could have done, certainly fire would 37 00:02:23,900 --> 00:02:28,466 have been worse, uh, but, uh, we, we weren't a fan of the shellacking. Uh, but that said, 38 00:02:28,466 --> 00:02:32,433 it really hasn't ruined the autographs. (chuckles): In fact, it may have served to 39 00:02:32,433 --> 00:02:37,233 preserve at least the Babe Ruth autograph. Uh, you know, moving forward, no more shellacking. 40 00:02:37,233 --> 00:02:40,033 GUEST (laughing): Okay. That was Granddad, not me. 41 00:02:40,033 --> 00:02:42,166 APPRAISER (laughs): I love the story. I love the "Mission: 42 00:02:42,166 --> 00:02:45,600 Impossible"... I love that he, that he did everything he could. How, how old was he? 43 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:49,800 GUEST: Uh, at the time? Uh, Granddad? Oh, he's probably 35. 44 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:52,133 APPRAISER: Okay. (laughing) So this is a grown man... 45 00:02:52,133 --> 00:02:53,866 GUEST: Yeah, yeah. APPRAISER: ...who's just going to steal 46 00:02:53,866 --> 00:02:55,700 away... (both laughing) ...to go get some autographs, I love that. 47 00:02:55,700 --> 00:02:57,733 GUEST: Right. 48 00:02:57,733 --> 00:02:59,933 APPRAISER: Value. An auction estimate we think a, appropriate for this piece, 49 00:02:59,933 --> 00:03:04,100 with all of the autographs-- we're talking about the Centennial, 1939 Cooperstown 50 00:03:04,100 --> 00:03:08,166 program-- we think an auction estimate, appropriately, is at $10,000 to $20,000. 51 00:03:08,166 --> 00:03:09,066 GUEST: Right. 52 00:03:09,066 --> 00:03:11,000 APPRAISER: Okay? 53 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,100 GUEST: Insurance-wise, we think a proper insurance value for this is $50,000. 54 00:03:14,100 --> 00:03:15,600 GUEST: Interesting. 55 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:17,600 APPRAISER: Okay? 56 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:19,600 GUEST: Yeah. Uh, well, Granddad, this was his, uh, crown jewel. He loved-- he 57 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:23,000 knew he had something special, and he, he loved sharing the stories with us.