This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/2/2012
The City of Mount Vernon, Ohio, invited the great Hall of Famer Cy Young, then living in Newcomerstown, Ohio, to throw out the first ball to launch the 1948 season of youth baseball. In a typewritten letter to the Hall of Famer, the mayor says he has 150 boys "rarin' to go" to start the season on June 5, and would Mr. Young be willing to throw out the first pitch? This was on official Mount Vernon city stationery, with presumably the city's official file copy being matted on the left side and the letter sent to Cy pictured on the right side. The Hall of Famer apparently just flipped the document over and in his languid hand scripted a note in black fountain pen that tells the mayor that he will try to be in Mount Vernon on the 5th. It is signed in large 8/10 Cy Young signature both at the end of the missive and following a P.S. saying there might be some travel expenses. Absolutely a super piece of Cy Young memorabilia from about the time of his 81st birthday. A pair of black-and-white photos grace the bottom of the piece, the first (8-by-9 inches) possibly pictures the Hall of Famer at the ceremony cheerfully trying to navigate in full catcher's gear, and ah adjacent 10-by-8-inch photo showing the entire youth league posed in the outfield beneath signs of their sponsors (Eagles, Moose, Elks, Lions, Eagles, Kiwanis, etc.). The entire piece is matted in quiet gray and black frame to massive overall dimensions of 24-by-25 inches.
Pre-certified by PSA/DNA.