Addendum: There are no Hall of Famers in this lot. The 186 HOF members in the Dave Hill Collection are split up in lots 164–173.
A dozen images with over 100 players are posted for viewing, grouped by letter. On the consignor's archived list, the total count exceeds 2,650 for this A–F group.
CLICK FOR THE FULL LIST
For questions, please email brendan@scpauctions.com or call 1-800-350-2273.
Provenance: How does one acquire over 9,000
autographs, covering just about every Major Leaguer from 1900 to 2000?
Very diligently with an unbelievable amount of patience and
determination. For Dave Hill, the quest lasted practically his entire
life. Born in St. Louis in 1929, Hill was a standout pitcher who played
in college and then a few years professionally in the White Sox
organization before landing a position with the Central Intelligence
Agency where he had a long and decorated career. The management and
organization skills Hill developed at the CIA certainly came in handy as
he meticulously built his massive memorabilia collection.
Hill grew up a die-hard St. Louis Browns fan and always had a passion
for collecting. It became as much a hobby as an obsession as he tracked
down player after player by attending games or events where one was
present, writing them letters with his request, or purchasing from other
collectors (some autographs were dated before Hill was even born). The
relentless man did not stop until well into his 60’s. Most signatures
come on 3x5 index cards or cuts, and many are done on the player’s
baseball card, photo, news clipping or mailed postcard/GPC. The list is
mind-blowing, some signatures so rare that records of their mere
existence are blank. As a hobbyist, Hill was also recognized for his
extensive collection of St. Louis Brown photographs used to produce two
official “Brownies” albums by team archivists.
The Dave Hill Collection is easily one of the largest autograph
collections ever documented. Its size and scope is beyond anything we’ve
had the pleasure of representing. Luckily, Hill was meticulous about
keeping it organized in alphabetical order and, according to the family,
his wife Jewell deserves much of the credit. Even the years of each
player’s birth [& death] and MLB debut are noted. A total of 186 Hall of Famers
are included (out of a possible 323) and the most significant autographs
have been encapsulated by PSA/DNA, branded “Dave Hill Collection.”
David W. Hill passed away in 1995 at the age of 66.
DISCLAIMER: Due to the time, resources and fees required for a collection of this magnitude, PSA/DNA was unable to perform a thorough "pre-certification" of all 9,000+ signatures in the collection. PSA/DNA did pre-certify, and in many cases encapsulate, all Dave Hill autographs in Lots 164–175; anything pre-certified has 60 days from the close of the auction to be submitted for encapsulation. Several dozen notable autographs in this lot of 2,650+ have been reviewed and passed a preliminary inspection by SCP Auctions, but we cannot guarantee that every autograph is authentic. Thus, considering the huge value opportunity in this lot, we will not be issuing refunds on signatures deemed secretarial, clubhouse or done by the player's wife/family. Considering the number of pre-1900 born and pre-WW2 deceased players included, there will inevitably be a few. However, based on the sample size of what PSA/DNA has reviewed, the percentage is extremely low (less than 2%).