The name Moonlight Graham may not any ring bells with you. Graham played a single Major League Baseball game in 1905 and only played the field; he never took an at-bat. However, when we say the words "If you build it, he will come.", those bells will start ringing. Graham was featured in the 1989 blockbuster, Field of Dreams. Few people, if any, ever asked Graham for an autograph. For many years, only 6 known copies of Graham's signature have survived. FOUR new copies of Moonlight's signature have been discovered!
Field of Dreams is a classic movie; we could quote the Kevin Costner flick all day. The film was adapted from a book titled Shoeless Joe by author W. P. Kinsella. One of the young players was in the film is Archibald "Moonlight" Graham. Perhaps you remember the scene where Moonlight stepped off the baseball field and transformed into his elder self, a doctor, that saved a little girl from choking. Moonlight Graham was a real player, an actual doctor, and has one of the rarest autographs in the hobby! Until recently, only six copies of Moonlight's autograph were known to exist. Thanks to a recent discovery, TEN are available.
"Moonlight" Graham played in a single MLB game on June 29th, 1905. A defensive replacement in the outfield for the the New York Giants, Graham played right field in the bottom of the 8th inning. In the top of the 9th inning, the Graham was on deck when the inning ended and never got to bat. That was the only time Graham ever made it to the major leagues.
Graham had a wonderful career after baseball, becoming a doctor. After graduating from Maryland, Graham practiced in Chisholm, MN. until his death in 1965. Passing away well before Field of Dreams was released in theatres, collectors had no reason to obtain an autograph from Moonlight Graham. Imagine in a day when collecting autographs was simply not as big of a market that it is today that anyone would have handed a baseball and pen over to a player with a single career game under their belt - with no at-bats. Moonlight Graham autographs are as rare as they come.
For many years, only 6 copies of Graham's autograph were known. Make that TEN! In a story posted by the Baltimore Sun, Larry Pitrof is an Executive Director at University School of Medicine in Maryland. The same school Moonlight Graham studied at. Pitrof decided to investigate a few cabinets in the school where he found letters from Graham to the Dean. Four new autographs from Moonlight Graham himself!
The autographs aren't worth as much as a Babe Ruth autograph but if you're an autograph collector, a Graham signature is a Holy Grail.
We LOVE discoveries like this Moonlight find. Here at Just Collect, are always looking to buy rare autographs like Moonlight's. This year we found and purchased a baseball signed by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig that was obtained by their Yankees teammate! You can read that amazing find and story here. If you're looking to sell your collection, we'd love to hear from you - especially if you have a Moonlight Graham autograph.
WE ARE ALWAYS BUYING
Just Collect is always buying vintage sports and non-sports cards from 1879 to 1979 as well as select modern cards. If you have a collection that you are considering selling, contact us today to discuss or get our industry-leading purchase offer. If you have a collection that you want appraised, please contact us and we would be happy to discuss your collection and help you understand the real cash value of your collection in the current marketplace. Check out the Just Collect Buy List.
We always offer a FREE APPRAISAL for your collection here at the Just Collect site. Just click here:
We offer may ways to evaluate your cards other than or using our website, too.
If you can make the trip here like the son from my hometown did for this collection- we can make a deal at the office. We once met a father-son duo that drove eight hours from Virginia to meet us to sell a Michael Jordan rookie card stored in Tupperware since 1986 - great read here.
We keep a LIST of card shows we'll be attending. Come stop by the Just Collect table and chat.
If you have a valuable collection and want us to come to you, we'll hop on the next plane out. We recently took a trip to California to purchase a collection that included three Jackie Robinson 1948 Leaf rookie cards that you can read about here.
We have another location in New York you can meet us at; read all the information here.
If you choose to mail your cards for an appraisal, we will evaluate your cards for FREE still. If you choose not to sell the cards, we'll ship them back shipping fees paid by us! We can offer our FedEx account with 2-day shipping, fully insured, all covered by us. Simply contact the office to set up this option.
OUR BUYING PHILOSOPHY
We've run into a wide range of people and collections over the last 25 years. Although Just Collect is known for buying vintage sports cards and especially vintage baseball cards, we are also extremely interested in buying non-sports cards, too!
Every collection and every collector is different and we treat EVERY collection with the respect and attention that we show for our own collections. We understand that many have put their heart and souls into building their collections. So when you're ready to sell, we understand the feelings that you're going through and will work with you to help you reach a decision that is a WIN/WIN, because if you're not happy, we're not happy.
CONTACT US ANY TIME
Whether you have vintage cards or modern wax you want to sell, you can reach out to us any time!