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Lot # 670: 1963 Joe Morgan Rookie Baseball Publicity Questionnaire (PSA)

Starting Bid: $500.00

Bids: 4 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Summer Classic 2022",
which ran from 8/28/2022 7:00 PM to
9/17/2022 10:00 PM



Offered is an intriguing behind-the-scenes look at a publicity questionnaire for minor league players, stamped "May 9, 1963," and filled out by hand by Hall of Famer Joe Morgan. The second baseman was in the minor league system of the Houston Astros in 1963, and this publicity form was distributed by William J. Weiss Statistics/Publicity. Morgan would go on to become a key part of the Cincinnati Big Red Machine. Joe was a 2-time NL MVP winner, a 10-time All-Star and become a part of two World Series Champions. But back in 1963, he was a 19-year-old minor leaguer. Morgan left blank the space for nicknames on the publicity form. He listed his height as 5' 7 and 1/2", apparently wanting to make every half inch count, only natural for a short player. Joe listed his weight as 148 lbs., very light, even in that day of generally lighter players than today's. In the space for "Ethnicity or Descent," Morgan listed "Negro," a widely accepted term in 1963. Joe listed his ambition in baseball: "Be a good big league [sic] ballplayer." The minor leaguer listed his hobbies as golf, drawing, and pool, and he listed his off-season occupation as "Director/Oakland Recreation Department." The questionnaire is matted and framed at 13x18.5". Morgan answered the questionnaire in neat printing, with a ballpoint pen, writing in blue ink. The questionnaire is in excellent condition, and it contains wonderful irony in that the 19-year-old young man who put his ambition as wanting to "Be a good big league [sic] ballplayer," wound up exceeding his ambition so much that in 1990 he was inducted into the baseball shrine at Cooperstown. Comes with PSA LOA.

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