Lot # 51: 1887 Burch & Wildman Exceedingly Rare National League Champion Detroit Wolverines League Base Ball Score Book

You can search far and wide, for years, and you may never encounter another example of this 1887 Burch & Wildman Detroit Wolverines League Base Ball Score Book. Essentially an advertising giveaway piece, this Victorian Era publication is printed on the front and back covers with the sponsor’s name “Eisman & May”, a local Detroit retail shoe store.

The Wolverine’s history as a Major League team was brief, with an 1881-1888 run. Still, they fielded their fair share of great players, including Hall of Famers “Dan” Brouthers, “Deacon” White, “Foxy Ned” Hanlon, and “Big Sam” Thompson, who were all on the 1987 Wolverines team that won the National League championship. Following this triumph, team owner Fred Stearns challenged the American Association champion St. Louis Browns to a “World Series”. This postseason event was a 15-game marathon, which Detroit won 10-5.

The four Hall of Famers are pictured with their teammates at the back of the offered book, in individual engraving-style images, accompanied by biographies on the adjacent pages. At front are an 1887 National League season schedule and a rules section, which are followed by unused single game scoring pages for the Wolverines entire season, with the names of the opponents printed at top. The scoring grids are ensued by a two-page spread featuring the rosters of all NL teams, with listings for standouts "Cap" Anson, "Pud" Galvin, J.M. Ward, Tim Keefe, "Old Hoss" Radbourn, "Connie" Mack, and the others stars of the day.

A crease crack is noted down the center of the front cover, which also suffers minor surface loss at the bottom-right corner. The spine is reinforced with brown tap binding, and the blue flyleaf pages are potentially later date additions. Written boldly on the front flyleaf pages, is the name of former proprietor Clarence V. Kuhn. Due to a lack of exemplars, it has not positively been confirmed that these conditions were part of a restoration or original, though the back cover is positively identified as having been repaired. Despite these signs of attrition, this antique Detroit Wolverines souvenir is a tremendous find, as a potentially unique relic from a 19th Century championship season.