EARLY BASEBALL MEDALS

The last two pieces in the sale are from an earlier—but not forgotten—era in baseball. When I was a pre-teen and beyond, baseball was the only nationally celebrated sport. The NHL and the NFL were established but were far from the national dominance they have in today's sports world. But baseball…I grew up in a town with a Dodgers (Brooklyn) farm team. We followed the Dodgers avidly. When World Series time came our classroom time was sometimes interrupted by an update on the score. The closest parallel to baseball enthusiasm in that era is probably today's NCAA Final Four playoffs.

Baseball is the American game that inspired “Field of Dreams.” These two medals bring back a golden moment of nostalgia. It seemed particularly fitting to include them in this sale as baseball struggles to play yet another season.

Lot 201: 1913 Base Ball Tournament Medal

UNITED STATES. A medal in the form of a silver cross. 10.82 gm. 27 x 27 mm. 1913. A raised circle showing baseball player in a uniform of the era holding a bat / Engraving in five lines; BASEBALL TOURNAMENT VIKING AUG 4, 1913. LAH. Very Fine; a handsome silver medal with careful engraving. It looks to have once had a loop on top that is now gone. Viking tournament? One can still find tournaments with this name, but where this one was held is a good question.

To read the complete lot description, see:
E-Auction 36 Lot 201 (https://davcoin.com/lot/e-auction-36-lot-201)

Lot 202: Base Ball Fan 1915 Medal

UNITED STATES. Fan shaped medallet. 4.56 gm. 27 x 32 mm. 1915. A ball player in a uniform of the era, catching a ball; BASE BALL FAN 1915 / Blank, remains of a means of attachment. Extremely Fine.

For baseball fans in a time of seriously diluted baseball: two mementos of a classic era (lots 201 and 202). The 1910s decade was a golden age of baseball: Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, Tris Speaker, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson—names that are still familiar to baseball fans were among the players who dominated this decade. 1913 and 1915 were happy baseball years. (It all came crashing down in the 1919 World Series. We are not the first to experience a loss of innocence about the game.)

To read the complete lot description, see:
E-Auction 36 Lot 202 (https://davcoin.com/lot/e-auction-36-lot-202)

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