This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/11/2018
Interesting single signed pairing here of players whose paths briefly crossed as 1927-28 teammates with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Glenn Wright was the club's starting shortstop at that time and Dick Bartell backed him up when he broke into the Big Leagues. The two went their separate ways from there. Wright (nicknamed "Buckshot"), who finished fourth in the N.L. MVP voting in 1925 when he helped the Pirates win the World Series, was traded to the Brooklyn Robins in 1929 and retired in ‘35 with a .294 career average. He is one of 15 to ever convert an unassisted triple-play (the rarest play in baseball), doing so on May 7, 1925, in the ninth inning to end a game. Bartell, known as "Rowdy Richard" due to his fiery temperament, took over as the Pirates starting shortstop in 1929 before moving on to the Phillies in ’31 – the third of five stops in his 18-year career as a steady .284 hitting shortstop.
Each player has signed his respective cream-white, evenly toned ONL (Feeney) baseball in blue pen on the sweet spot. The Wright ball condition is in slightly better and his autograph rates 6-7/10. The Bartell ball has a tiny bit of spot toning and his signature is around 8/10. Wright passed in 1984 and Bartell in ’95, so it’s hard to find even one single signed example of these early ballplayers.
Includes letter of provenance from the daughter of a longtime MLB executive whose name will be revealed to the winning bidder. Pre-certified by PSA/DNA (autos.).