This week we have some really great items for sale and even more new acquisitions listed on our website at www.qualityautographs.com. Be sure to contact us at 800-241-4809 or qualityautographs@msn.com to reserve your finds early. Highlights include: Bucky Harris 8×10 B&W photo signed as Yankees manager, Hall of Famer Patrick Roy full color magazine pages with early, rookie-era sig’s, Nick Adenhart 2004 “Just Rookies” signed card, and much more! Don’t miss out on some great new items!
This week we will look at collecting the individual member signatures on flat items of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates.
Manager: Danny Murtaugh (d.76)
Starting eight: Pitchers:
Dick Stuart 1B (d.02) Vern Law
HOF–Bill Mazeroski 2B Harvey Haddix (d.94)
Don Hoak 3B (d.69) Bob Friend
Dick Groat SS Vinegar Bend Mizell (d.99)
Bob Skinner OF Joe Gibbon
Bill Virdon OF Tom Cheney (d.01)
HOF–Roberto Clemente OF (d.72) Elroy Face
Smoky Burgess C (d.91) Bennie Daniels
Jim Umbricht (d.64)
Substitutes: George Witt
Gino Cimoli Fred Green (d.96)
Hal Smith Paul Giel (d.02)
Rocky Nelson (d.06) Earl Francis (d.02)
Dick Schofield (Sr.) Clem Labine (d.07)
Joe Christopher Diomedes Olivo (d.77)
Gene Baker (d.99) Don Gross
Bob Oldis
Mickey Vernon (d.08)-also coached Coaches:
Dick Barone Sam Narron (d.96)
Danny Kravitz Frank Oceak (d.83)
Harry Bright (d.00) Len Levy (d.93)
R.C. Stevens Bill Burwell (d.73)
Roman Mejias
Other:
HOF announcer Bob Prince (d.85)
Since most team collectors attempt to assemble their collection on flat items in order to display the completed team together, we will apply the scarcity index key (SIK) below only to our estimate of the total number of signed flat items we have seen for each person listed above:
SIK-I: Extinct (we have never seen one)-none in this category
SIK-II: Extremely Rare (we have seen 1-10)-none in this category
SIK-III: Very Rare (we have seen 11-25)-Umbricht and Olivo
SIK-IV: Rare (we have seen 26-100)-Oceak, Levy, Burwell, and Prince
SIK-V: Uncommon (we have seen 101-500)-Murtaugh and Hoak
SIK-VI: Readily available (deceased with little or no autograph-show or private signing participation but examples are routinely offered in the market largely or primarily due to volume mail responses; check or other document releases; and/or overall widespread collecting of that person during their lifetime)-Stuart, Clemente, Burgess, Nelson, Baker, Bright, Haddix, Mizell, Cheney, Green, Giel, Francis, and Labine
SIK-VII: Plentiful (deceased but seemingly endless quantities exist from participation in modern shows, private signings, and/or fan-mail responses or a combination
thereof)-Vernon
SIK-VIII: living-all else
Summary: One reason this team is so widely collected is that it is possible to readily obtain nearly all of its members. Moreover, most of the players can be found for a reasonable cost and all of its key members can be obtained if one has the patience and means to acquire them. For the completionist, however, Umbricht and Olivo can be a challenge to find of those on the roster who played in at least one game for this storied team. Umbricht because of his early and tragic death at the age of just 33. Olivo because he returned after his brief career to his native Dominican Republic where he lived out his life, well away from collectors who could not reach him by mail.
