Going back to my roots
1/8/2018 – For me, growing up in a family that loved antiques I was quick to find myself attached to the idea of collecting. As a young boy, the obvious choice was baseball cards. Fortunately for me, this was just prior to the card companies over producing cards. The mid to late 1970’s was a great time in baseball history. As I scoured boxes and shelves at all of the local auctions, my collection grew. I would go to several different baseball card shops always looking for that card I needed to complete a year. I stopped buying baseball cards long ago and, in fact, all of my cards are now gone to others. But, as we unpacked and cataloged the items from the Kemble collection, I found lot #281, the Detroit Tigers baseball quilt, and I was transported back in time to my youth. As I looked through the embroidered signatures, I found many familiar names. There was Hank Greenburg, a Hall of Fame first baseman who was a two-time most valuable player and was considered one of the greatest sluggers of all time. There is Mickey Cochrane, one of the best catchers of all time and another Hall of Fame member. The superstitious Schoolboy Rowe’s name appears toward the center. Goose Goslin is yet another of the Hall of Fame members on this team. A prominent member of the “G-men” and great hitter. Gee Walker, the “Madman from Mississippi”, who was actually picked off while arguing with the St. Louis Cardinals bench in the World Series. Billy Rogell was a lead-off hitter who played in the World Series with a broken ankle and still managed to get eight hits. Tommy Bridges appears towards the center diamond. He was one of the premier pitchers of his era, with twenty-three complete games in 1934 alone. Charlie Gehringer, yet another Hall of Fame member, is considered one of the best second basemen of all time, he missed his Hall of Fame induction as he was getting married for the first time five days later. So do a search on the 1934 Tigers and you can see all sorts of interesting facts about this team, including the controversial call in the World Series. And to bid on this unique quilt, click here.
– Jamie Shearer
