Bill Lee - The Baseball Undertaker
Presents
 

1952 St Louis Browns' Autographs - Rogers Hornsby, Manager

These autographs were obtained in March, 1952, when the St Louis Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles) were training in El Centro, California. Bill Lee was a 14-year-old boy, and had the privilege of attending a spring training game there.  After the game he had the opportunity to get the following autographs on a 3 3/4" X 6 3/4" piece of notebook paper.  Over the years this piece of paper has aged, and was recently laminated for its protection.  On one side of the paper are the following autographs: 

  *  Rogers Hornsby - Hall of Fame member and holder of the second highest lifetime batting average (.358 - second only to Ty Cobb's .367), the highest lifetime average for a right-handed hitter.  He hit over .400 three times, the highest .424 in 1924.  He was the manager for the Browns at the beginning of the 1952 season.

  *  Roy Sievers - Rookie of the Year in 1949. He played first base and outfield seventeen years for the Browns, Senators, White Sox and Phillies.

  *  Jim Rivera (Jungle Jim) - He played outfield ten years for the Browns, White Sox and Athletics.

   *  Darrell Johnson - He was a backup catcher six years for the Browns, White Sox, Yankees, Phillies, Reds and Orioles.  Managed nine years in the American League (Red Sox, Mariners and Rangers) during the 1970s and 80s.

  *  Les Moss - He was a catcher thirteen years for the Browns, Red Sox, Orioles, Cardinals and White Sox. 

*  George Schmees - He was an outfielder only in 1952 for the Browns and Red Sox, but was a big-time hitter in the Pacific Coast League for several years.

*  Bill Norman - He played only briefly as an outfielder for the White Sox in 1931 and 1932.  He was a coach for the Browns in 1952 and managed the Tigers in 1958 and 1959.

  *  Tom Fine - He pitched briefly for the Red Sox in 1947 and for the Browns in 1950, but did not appear in any games in 1952.  

  *  Bob Scheffing - He caught eight years (with time off for military service during World War II) between 1941 and 1951 for the Cubs, Reds and Browns, but did not appear in any games in 1952.  He may have been a coach.  He managed the Cubs from 1957 to 1959, and the Tigers from 1961 to 1963. Later, he was an executive in the Cub organization for several years. 

  *  Cliff Fannin - He pitched eight years for the Browns.

On the other side of this piece of paper, by itself, is the autograph of Rogers Hornsby, in green ink.

This collectible is being offered for $550.  Inquiries may be made to:

Bill Lee
9501 West Business 83, Suite 871
Harlingen TX  78552