Vintage correspondence from the personal collection of former major league outfielder Rube Oldring. The highlight of which is a handwritten and signed letter from Hall of Famer Sam Crawford, the content of which includes Crawford's dissatisfaction with an extremely hittable baseball (sound familiar?) and his 25 years of compiling stats for a history book he was writing at the time. Other pieces include a signed, typed letter from Hall of Famer George Weiss, 1915 letter from John Shibe with Shibe Park letterhead, 1952 Chief Bender Night letter with Bender's picture on the letterhead and four telegrams to Oldring concerning his 1926 minor league championship run.

In Philadelphia, during the dead-ball era, Rube Oldring was a name known by all. He was a star player for the 1911 and 1913 World Champion Philadelphia Athletics. Both of those Championships are represented here in fine splendor. Even though he was never considered for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Oldring was a reliable and gritty player for Connie Mack’s A’s dynasty. After spending 14 years in the major leagues, Rube went on playing for and managing the Wilson team of the Virginia League to a Championship Pennant. Let us not forget that this is a time period when baseball players had to work during the winter months to provide for their families. Rube was no different as he worked long hours to provide and played as hard as humanly possible because he loved the game of baseball. After retirement from the game, he began farming for a living and spent his entire life in his native, Bridgeton, New Jersey. The relics and treasures presented here have remained in the Olding family until this day. This is the first family-authorized sale of any of the Oldring family’s belongings. Each lot will come with a letter from the family.