Spring Premier Auction 2018
Wed, Mar 7, 2018 04:00PM EST - Sat, Mar 24, 2018 11:00PM EDT
Timed Auction
Lot 205
TOMMY DAVIS SIGNED 1959 SPOKANE INDIANS PLAYERS CONTRACT AND MLB ASSIGNMENT DOCUMENTS
Sold for
$330
Sold Price includes BP
Bid Increments
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| $3,000 | $250 |
| $5,000 | $500 |
| $10,000 | $1,000 |
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| $500,000 | $50,000 |
In 1956 Tommy Davis was a track basketball and baseball star at Boys High School in Brooklyn. Davis was ready to sign with the Yankees but a surprise telephone call from Jackie Robinson convinced him to sign with his hometown Dodgers. By 1959 Davis had won a batting title in the Midwest League and had reached the top of the Dodgers minor league ladder with Spokane. The budding star would hit .345 to lead the Pacific Coast League in hitting earning a late season call-up with the World Series-bound Dodgers. Davis would go on to win two batting titles for the team Jackie convinced him to sign with.
Offered here is Davis’ 1959 contract with the Spokane Indians. Dated June 16 1959 the contract guarantees Davis $800 a month and has been signed twice by Herman Thomas Davis Jr. in blue pen. The contract has the expected folding from storage and light toning from age. The two Davis signatures have been well preserved within this document. The second piece in this lot is a September 9 1959 dated notice informing Davis that his contract has been purchased by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Davis made one unsuccessful pinch-hitting appearance with the World Series-bound Dodgers before the season ended. This yellow form has two horizontal folds from mailing and edge wear from age. The third piece is a January 8 1960 dated letter from Dodgers executive Buzzy Bavasi which accompanied Davis’ 1960 Dodgers contract for him to sign. The letter has the certified mail receipt taped to its surface and the signature-required receipt signed by Grace Davis. The letter shows edge wear with some paper loss and the tape affixing the certified receipt has yellowed with age.
The final piece in this group is the January 27 1960 letter from Bavasi expressing surprise that Davis had returned his 1960 Dodgers contract unsigned. Bavasi relates how he had the Spokane club tear up his 1959 contract of $700 a month and give the ball player a $100 a month raise. Bavasi’s letter informs Davis that if he stays with the club he will increase his salary to $7000 not before as Davis wanted. The letter shows edge wear with toning creases and some paper loss. A significant signed pre-rookie signed group documenting the early part of Tommy Davis’ rise from the minor leagues to becoming a two-time National League batting champ and World Series hero.
Autographs pre-certified by PSA/DNA.
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