They don't get much nicer than this bright and colorful autographed 1969 Topps baseball card of Hank Aaron in his Atlanta Braves uniform.
By this stage of his career "Hammerin' Hank" had surpassed the 500 career home run mark and was steadily on his way to breaking Babe Ruth's iconic 714 milestone. Signed by Hank AT THE TIME in bold, black period ballpoint, the autograph has tremendous eye appeal and is nicely slabbed in a PSA/DNA holder.
Baseball autograph expert and author of WAITING FOR A SIGN, Kevin Keating, included his signed copy of this particular Aaron card on the cover of his book (along with a signed '69 Mantle card). Of the countless signed items in Keating's enormous collection, the '69 Aaron made the cover of his book. What does that tell you about the beauty and stature of this card?
Sadly, Mr. Aaron passed away in 2021, so his memorabilia, always of great interest, is getting even more attention. A favorite Aaron card, neatly signed like this one, is hard to top! Move over Babe, here comes Henry.
Provenance:
As documented in the story The Great Autograph Hunt from the February 5, 1974 Dayton (Ohio) Journal Herald, Jack Zimmerman and his grade school buddies Tim Gallagher and Vince Martin started collecting autographs of athletes through the mail, at games and at team hotels, primarily in the Cincinnati and Dayton areas. The boys were relentless in their pursuit of baseball, basketball and football players, obtaining the stars and "commons" of the day, plus "old timers" and "legends" that were coaches, broadcasters or responsive through the mail. Jack was locked in on collecting from about 1968 through 1975, until pursuit of his own basketball career took priority. Jack became an All-State high school player, then had a Hall of Fame career hooping at the University of Dayton, followed by several seasons as an overseas pro, including suiting up for the prestigious Maccabi Tel Aviv club. Jack's extensive collection was essentially put in a time capsule in 1976 and has literally followed him all over the world. We are proud to present selected treasures from Jack's collection in our Auction, fresh to the hobby and seeing the light of day for the first time in over 45 years!