Bill Wambsganss All-American Girls Pro Baseball Archive
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GUEST:
My grandfather was Bill Wamby. He played for the Cleveland Indians, among other teams. He had a 13-year professional career. And after he retired in the '40s, he went and managed girls' professional baseball.
APPRAISER:
You said Bill Wamby, but his last name was...?
GUEST:
Wambsganss.
APPRAISER:
Wambsganss. He did play for the Cleveland Indians…
GUEST:
Correct.
APPRAISER:
…So he's kind of a local hometown hero, and I think he's really well known for being the only player in history ever to complete an unassisted triple play in a World Series.
GUEST:
In a World Series in 1920.
APPRAISER:
Right, 1920. And it's something that's never been done again, and I don't know if it ever will be.
GUEST:
He was interviewed once about the triple play, and he said, "You would have thought I was born the day before and died the day after," but he had a 13-year career, but everybody remembers…
APPRAISER:
Focuses…
GUEST:
…That one –
APPRAISER:
Right.
GUEST:
--one play.
APPRAISER:
And at the time, he was a second baseman.
GUEST:
That’s correct, yes.
APPRAISER:
So you got the player going off second base, caught a line drive, and tagged the runner from first coming into second.
GUEST:
First to second, right.
APPRAISER:
What we're looking at here, I think, is really super because up until not that long ago, women's baseball was not treated in the same fashion as men's professional baseball…
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
…And with the movie League of Their Own and with the… opening of that wing in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame, it's really come more to the forefront. Now, you have two pictures up on top.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Those are two team pictures of teams that he coached in the Women's Baseball League.
GUEST:
That's right, the Fort Wayne Daisies, and then the Muskegon Lassies.
APPRAISER:
What I also found really neat was that little piece of paper you brought there. It's the All-American Girls' Baseball League. It says "Girls' baseball, not softball," and that's very cool to me because up until that point, women played softball, men played baseball. And also, the parameters for the bases and everything else are different than professional men's baseball. Down on the bottom, it shows that he was the head scout.
GUEST:
That's right.
APPRAISER:
Now the trophy, to me, is really interesting because it's a trophy for them winning the title…
GUEST:
That’s right.
APPRAISER:
…And that was with the Muskegon Lassies.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Overall, the trophy's in great shape. It is missing the bat.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And that's not hard to replace. What also is very cool, down here, it says, ah, "To Bill Wamby," and then it lists the players' names, which is great.
GUEST:
Great names.
APPRAISER:
Yeah. Cookie and Tex and everything else. I'm assuming because it's such a personal family thing that it's something you're gonna keep in the family.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
I would advise you to place an insurance value on the whole group as an archive somewhere between $8,000 and $10,000 for insurance purposes. Yeah, it's irreplaceable stuff. Trophies from Women's Baseball League…
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
…I haven't seen one. When we give an insurance appraisal, understand, it's not definitely saying –
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
-- that's what it would sell for, but it's important to… to cover it in the event that something does happen.
GUEST:
Incredible.
APPRAISER:
But it's just, it’s just great, and it's not just because it's the Women's Baseball League. You're talking about a pretty important figure in Cleveland baseball history. So…
GUEST:
He was a great guy, too.
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