Les Nunamaker Baseball Collection, ca. 1915
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GUEST:
My great-great-uncle, Leslie Nunamaker, played professional baseball from about 1911 to about 1920 with teams like Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns, and Cleveland Indians.
APPRAISER:
And this is some of his stuff.
GUEST:
Yes, it is.
APPRAISER:
Here we have a couple of baseball magazines that actually picture your great-great-uncle. He was one of the best pinch hitters of his day. He was also a great catcher.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
He is a well-known ball player, and this is his bat. Now, there was a player named Jack Theis. He played in 1920. This bat says, "Theis," it doesn't say, "Nunamaker." Now, back then, what these guys would do if they felt a bat that felt right, they'd say, "Hey, do you mind if I take that bat?" You know?
GUEST:
Sure, sure.
APPRAISER:
"I'll send it back to Louisville Slugger. Maybe they'll make me one like that." It's very possible that's what this means.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
You have a ticket stub.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
It's from the 1915 World Series.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Boston Red Sox versus the Philadelphia Phillies. This is for game one in Philadelphia, and actually, the Phillies won that game.
GUEST:
So was the ticket right along this edge where they tore it then?
APPRAISER:
Right here. We have your great-great-uncle's lifetime baseball silver pass. We have an interesting cufflink-- it's actually in the shape of a baseball, and engraved on it says, "8-23-20."
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Now, he played for the Cleveland Indians.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
In 1920. August 16 of that year, Ray Chapman was killed.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
He was the player who got hit in the head by Carl Mays. He died a day after he was hit.
GUEST:
Yeah, yeah.
APPRAISER:
It was a terrible tragedy, and on August 23, 1920, the Cleveland Indians were in Boston. They played a double-header. Now, why that's engraved with that date, I'm not quite sure. That we're going to have to research a little more.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
Here, we have two more cufflinks. One is a championship cufflink from the 1912 Red Sox.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
And one is from the 1920 Cleveland Indians. And finally, we have a 1912 Boston Red Sox championship medal, and this was awarded to your great-great-uncle, and if we turned it around here, we'll see it's also been engraved with his name.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Now, the 1912 Red Sox were a particularly important team. They'd just moved into their new ballpark, Fenway Park, and they christened it well. They won 105 games and they beat the New York Giants to win the World Series-- it was a big deal. It's probably one of the most important of the Boston championships. So you have wonderful pieces here.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
This ticket stub's probably worth about $1,500.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
Yeah. The lifetime pass is probably worth about $800 to $1,200.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
This piece, we're not quite sure what it is, but it's worth at least $500. These two are wonderful. These two little championship cufflinks. They're probably worth at least $3,000. But this piece right here, this is remarkable.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
I know of a couple in existence. I've never seen one outside of the Hall of Fame or outside of a historical society.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
Now, the players got diamonds in their championships medals. This one, the diamond has been removed. The good news is that that can be replaced.
GUEST:
Sure.
APPRAISER:
Okay? But this medal can never be replaced.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
And looking at the whole collection here, I would insure this for no less than $25,000.
GUEST:
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
It's, it's truly a remarkable collection of things, and what a wonderful thing to have in your family. It's just amazing.
GUEST:
Yeah. (laughs) That's wonderful, it's just great. What's that one worth?
APPRAISER:
That's probably worth, you know, 20 grand.
GUEST:
$20,000? (laughs) Oh, I got a tear in my eye. (laughing)
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