Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by John Spillane on June 5, 2019 at 5:52pm

Beautiful!  Strong resemblance to the one I got signed back in '92, in person.

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Permalink Reply by Buff99 on June 5, 2019 at 8:09pm

Do you think both are real? Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Fuddjcal on June 6, 2019 at 7:34am

The one you got in 92 is gorgeous John, the other 2...not so much.

They might be from John Henry practicing his dads name, IMHO? I'm not seeing why he would sign notebook paper in that fashion. I'd move away from them myself

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Permalink Reply by John Spillane on June 7, 2019 at 3:50am

Thank, Fudd!

Always learning something new. I had heard about John Henry. Not much, though. Died young , in fact, right after his father. I was talking to a friend and he told me that the son would accompany Ted at various card and auto shows. He'd met him one time in Michigan. 

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Permalink Reply by John Spillane on June 6, 2019 at 3:40am

For some reason, I'd stay away from this. I really don't like to opine on the Williams autograph, other than a baseball. I'm more adept, which isn't saying very much, lol. I'm looking at this and it's signed in pencil Definitely by the same hand. I see two different autographs here. I'm going through all my tells, but there's one, go to tell, that isn't working here. But this is just my opinion. And then one of the experts may come on here and say it's fine. Williams has always been a tricky proposition. Just when you think you have it down.

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on June 6, 2019 at 11:24am

I agree with Fudd, that was my first thought, that it is a practice sheet for someone other than Ted.

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Permalink Reply by Steve on June 6, 2019 at 11:28am

I completely agree.  John Henry was known to sign his fathers name and spend time practicing.  As soon as I saw the same signature on the same sheet, I knew this wasn’t something Ted would have done, but someone who was practicing would.

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Permalink Reply by John Spillane on June 7, 2019 at 3:55am

Thanks Steve! Great stuff. Like I said in the other post, I saw two different autographs, in the same hand too. When I first looked at them they didn't strike me as being blatant forgeries. But like you and Fudd said, Ted doing this?  Highly, unlikely.

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Permalink Reply by Gal Fanakis on May 28, 2022 at 10:18pm

I went to college with John Henry and knew him pretty well.  He did spend a lot of time practicing his dad's signature, writing it everywhere he could. He'd sign balls with his dad's signature and trade them for favors.  I wouldn't be surprised if when Ted was getting older it was just John Henry signing all the balls. 

He would only have been in like 9th grade when this was signed, but it does seem like something he'd do. 

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