Lot # 940: "Smokey Joe" Wood Signed Flats (3) with Lawrence Ritter Check

Score one of baseball's few 30-game winners in triplicate, with these (3) "Smoky Joe" Wood signed flats. Pitching during the "dead ball" era, Wood turned in seven strong seasons on the mound for the Boston Red Sox. His career year came in 1912, when he went 34-5, and played in big part in the Sox winning the World Series. After sitting out nearly two full seasons, Wood returned to the game as outfielder with the Cleveland Indians, and racked up a respectable .283 lifetime batting average. This trio of Wood signed items is pleasing across the board, with signatures that are as solid as his productive two-way play.

Featured are:

10/1/67 Bank check in the amount of $312.20 from author Lawrence Ritter, endorsed on the back by Wood. Ritter has signed the front, and a written notation at top-left reads "Royalty from "The Glory of Their Times", a reference to a 1966 book by Ritter, with interviews from famous old timers.

11/26/82 Page from the Sports Collectors Digest, with a personalized Wood signature over a pitching pose photograph.

3x5 Index card with personalized Wood signature.

Auction LOA from James Spence/JSA.