1961 Red Sox - Yastrzemski

In August 1961 I was in Cleveland with my dad and about to go to my first major league baseball game. I was 11 y/o, from Texas, a huge baseball fan and beyond excited. We were at the Statler Hilton hotel and I found out that the Red Sox team was staying in our hotel. The players and coaches were just hanging around in the lobby and coffee shop so I grabbed a piece of hotel stationery and began to get as many autographs as I could. I've held on to that piece of paper for years and it wasn't until I got older that I began having concerns about the Yastrzemski signature for reasons that should be obvious. I'm hoping that someone familiar with his signature (like terrier8HOF) might see this and offer an opinion.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Jackson on September 25, 2019 at 9:44am

A couple of more photos.

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Permalink Reply by John Spillane on September 25, 2019 at 11:39am

I went to the PSA website and they had a Yastrzemski auto from '61. Looks nothing like yours. I've never known him to spell his name Carl with a K.

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Permalink Reply by John Spillane on September 25, 2019 at 11:45am

I found a few signature variations in my autograph book.

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Permalink Reply by John Spillane on September 25, 2019 at 11:57am

I have one in my collection. This is the only autograph that I have ever known of him.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Jackson on September 25, 2019 at 12:23pm

Thanks, John, for the replies. Those are exactly my concerns; The "K" instead of "C" and the fact that it doesn't really resemble any online examples that I can find. It was Yastrzemski's rookie year and I'm certain I didn't know who he was or what he looked like at that time. I remember searching everywhere for Jackie Jensen but never found him. But if some random guy I approached in the lobby who wasn't a ballplayer and just wanted to screw around with a wide-eyed star-struck 11 y/o I always wondered why he chose a rookie's name to forge. Why not someone who was already a star?

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on September 25, 2019 at 12:49pm

I have well over 50 examples of Carl's autograph, starting in 1961 thru the rest of his career, and some from post career. Here is one from my '61 team signed ball:

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Permalink Reply by Woody2Shoes on September 25, 2019 at 5:46pm

My concern is that at least 75% of the signatures on that page are by the same hand! There are so many similarities between each signature as to raise red flags for legitimacy, not just for the Yaz, which in no way is authentic, but the whole piece.

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on September 25, 2019 at 6:50pm

The rest of the signatures on that page are authentic. I have several examples of Red Sox signatures from that era and they are spot on. All except the Yaz.

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Permalink Reply by Woody2Shoes on September 25, 2019 at 8:24pm

They all must have studied penmanship from the same teacher! All but one of the lefties and righties signing at similar angles. What are the odds? Has to be in the millions to one, right?

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Permalink Reply by Bob Jackson on September 26, 2019 at 1:05pm

Thanks guys for the responses, opinions and advice. I never had any doubts about the authenticity of the others as I obtained them first hand but that darned Yaz has bothered me for awhile. I wish whoever put one over on an 11 /y/o fan had just said "Kid, I'm not a ball player" as a few others did and let me run to the next likely looking guy in the lobby. I have to say that those players and coaches that day were some of the nicest guys to a kid. Pitcher Dave Hillman really stood out. He talked to me and my parents for quite a while. Good looking too! I think my mom was smitten. The other one I still remember nearly 60 years later was Gene Conley. It was later that night and I caught him near the elevator going up to his room. He smelled pretty heavily of alcohol and as he was signing he told me that I "should be horse whipped." I wasn't sure if he was kidding or not. I don't think he was. :-)