Presented is a June 12, 1939, National Baseball Hall of Fame ticket stub for the first Hall of Fame Induction Day in Cooperstown, New York, to mark what was termed "Baseball's Centennial." Of course, we now know that baseball was never invented but rather evolved over many years from rounders. Back in 1939, it was falsely publicized as being invented by a Civil War hero, Abner Doubleday, in Cooperstown. The Baseball Hall of Fame, as an entity, was established in 1936. The five Inaugural inductees: Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, and Honus Wagner. The physical building housing the Hall of Fame was not officially opened until the '39 opening on June 12th. Between the first Hall of Fame election through the election for 1939, 20 more individuals were named to the Hall of Fame. All 11 living Hall of Famers attended the 1939 opening: Ruth, Cobb, Wagner, Johnson, Tris Speaker, Connie Mack, Nap Lajoie, George Sisler, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Eddie Collins, and Cy Young. The crowd numbered 15,000 fans. In addition to the Induction Ceremony itself, an exhibition game was arranged between current Major Leaguers. One team was managed by Honus Wagner and the other squad was managed by Eddie Collins. Nine future Hall of Famers played in the game at Cooperstown's Doubleday Field: For the "Wagner's" - Arky Vaughn, Charlie Gehringer, Joe Medwick, and Lefty Grove. For the Collins' Team - Lloyd Waner, Billy Herman, Mel Ott, Hank Greenberg, and Dizzy Dean. The Wagner Team beat the Collins Team by a 4-2 score. In the 5th inning, Babe Ruth pinch hit for the Wagner squad, in one of his final appearances in uniform. On a 1-1 count, he fouled out to the catcher, but he still received a rousing ovation for his unexpected at bat. The ticket stub is encapsulated by PSA as "Authentic" but "Altered." The alteration was that the original owner put a backing on the ticket and mailed it to a friend or relative. The back is actually postmarked from Cooperstown on the day of the opening ceremonies - June 12, 1939 - and this ticket was also used for the game held at Doubleday Field. In part, the ticket reads, "CAVALCADE OF BASEBALL/ADMIT ONE/JUNE 12, 1939/AUSPICES of NATIONAL BASEBALL CENTENNIAL COMMISSION/Doubleday Field/1839/1939/ PRICE $1.65/Rain or Shine/ Sec. $/Row A/No. 9." The stub has an image of Abner Doubleday. The front of ticket is very clean and it displays great.

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