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Slideshow | Behind the Scenes of ROADSHOW's Season 23 Production Tour

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1934 U.S. All-Star Team Baseball Signatures

Value (2016) | $10,000 Auction – $30,000 Insurance
Watch  

GUEST:
My parents attended a baseball game in Sendai in 1934. The team came from New York, and these are the players, all of their signatures. And they watched the game with the Japanese. They were in Japan as missionaries. They weren't really baseball fans, but they were American fans in a foreign country, and the big memory that I read in one of their writings was, the Japanese behind them brought a huge jug of sake, which they were going to enjoy. Because the Japanese loved baseball. They broke the jug and sake was all over everybody.

APPRAISER:
Wow! And they left in 1939. Why did they leave?

GUEST:
Things were happening already around the world-- war things. And because I was an infant, they left. On a steamship and came back to the States.

APPRAISER:
Came back. Did they ever go back to Japan?

GUEST:
They never went back, but I want to.

APPRAISER:
And did they have any particular remembrances of the team themselves, the players?

GUEST:
Well, interestingly enough-- whether it was theirs or whether it was the Japanese impression-- Babe Ruth appeared to them to be like a gorilla. (laughing) And that appears in their notes and everything.

APPRAISER:
Oh, that's, well, he was a large man.

GUEST:
Yes.

APPRAISER:
And here are your parents in the stands right here. There's your dad and there's your mom in this photo. And then there's your dad, and there's your mom in that photo.

GUEST:
Yes.

APPRAISER:
So that's their story in getting their signatures from the baseball players. They must have had a great opportunity to get them at the game.

GUEST:
My father had a lot of personality. Right into the pit he went.

APPRAISER:
1934, tensions with the United States were very high. This tour, the baseball teams, all-star teams had gone over ever since 1908. But in 1934, they made a huge push to bring over their best players as sort of seeking peace between the two countries.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
So they brought Babe Ruth, one of the greatest Hall-of-Famers, if not the greatest of all time, who was adored by them. 500,000 people showed up.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
To greet the team, and they're all yelling, "Bonsai, Babe Ruth." Babe Ruth brought over 20 pieces of luggage, including one case just for tobacco. And then you had Lou Gehrig, who's over here. You had Jimmie Foxx, who's here. You had Charlie Gehringer. You had a whole team of all-stars that went over. But the undercurrent, for instance, you have Moe Berg here.

GUEST:
Yes.

APPRAISER:
Now, Moe Berg was a second- string catcher, essentially. He was not of the same caliber as the rest of this team. But he brought over his camera, and later on it was found out, he was filming Japanese military installations.

GUEST:
That I'd heard.

APPRAISER:
So he had done some spying. Again, there were all these military undertones. The players had their bags gone through and they were shadowed on the streets. You look at these and they're just signatures on a page, but when you find out the history, they mean so much more. I would probably put an auction estimate on the group of $10,000 to $15,000. And I could think they could sell possibly as high as $15,000 or $20,000, depending on the auction. If you were going to insure them, I would then put $30,000 on them. To protect yourself. GUESTL Thank you. I had nowhere... I had no idea where to begin.

APPRAISER:
So if you're going to sell them, what would you do with the money?

GUEST:
Go to Japan. (laughing)

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Leila Dunbar
Collectibles, Sports Memorabilia
Leila Dunbar Appraisals & Consulting, LLC
Washington, DC
Appraised value (2016)
$10,000 Auction – $30,000 Insurance
Featured In
Virginia Beach, Hour 3 (#2115)
Event
Virginia Beach, VA (June 25, 2016)
Category
Sports Memorabilia
Period
1930s
Form
Log , Photograph
Material
Paper

Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."

Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.

Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.

Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.

Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.

Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.

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