In the collection is the uncommon signature of Miller Huggins. Known for his 12 seasons, six pennants, and three World Series championships with the Yankees, Huggins also piloted the St. Louis Cardinals from 1913-1917. Before turning to managing, Huggins was a second baseman for the Reds and the Cardinals for 13 years. This sheet filled out entirely in Huggins’ hand features the autograph of the Hall of Fame manager in the bottom right corner. Eighteen years before his 1964 induction, Huggins was selected for the Hall of Fame’s Honor Rolls of Baseball in 1946.

Miller James Huggins was the manager of the eventual American League champions when he signed this sheet on May 24, 1926. Huggins’ Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox on that day with Lou Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri getting all the RBI for New York. Shown here is a closeup of the “MJ Huggins” signature along with the date.

The Miller Huggins signature was housed in this envelope. Adorned with a return address of “American League Base Ball Club of New York 226 West 42nd Street New York”, this envelope has notes written in the hand of Yankee executive and part owner Ed Barrow. Earlier in the year Barrow had purchased a share of the franchise. On this envelope he writes, “Receipt for payment on St. Petersburg property 5/27/26”.

In the collection is a vintage original contract between MJ Huggins and the American League Base Ball Club of New York. Handwritten twice on this front page of the tri-fold is “Hold” an indicator that this particular copy was never fully executed. Taking a looks through the four pages of the contracts provides insight into baseball of the 1920s. Please see the other pages of this contract.

When not folded to show the previous image, this would be the first page of the 1923 contract between Miller Huggins and the Yankees. The document calls for Huggins of Cincinnati, Ohio to make $20,000 for the 1923 season. Handwritten in pencil toward the bottom of the page is the phrase, “Bonus $3,000 for?”. There’s no accompanying sheet that stipulates the terms of the bonus. Much research has been done into the salaries of Hall of Fame members but no known information about how much the Yankees paid Huggins for the 1923 season.

The signature page of this 1923 contract is regrettably blank. Huggins and Yankee general manager Ed Barrow would have signed here. Contracts from Hall of Fame players and managers are in high demand, even examples such as this one. During Barrow’s reign the GM himself was in charge of negotiating contract though owner Jacob Ruppert handled those of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

The final page of Miller Huggins’ 1923 contract is the “Regulations” portion. Of note is the final stipulation that the club may require the player to report for practice and participate in exhibition games for up to 45 days before the start of the season without further compensation. In a sign of the mode of transportation of 1920s, the club promises to provide, “Pullman accommodations”.

Miller Huggins was still at the height of his career when he passed away unexpectedly in 1929. Despite guiding his teams to six American League pennants and three World Series championships, it took more than 35years for Huggins to get into the Hall of Fame. In the collection is the original letter sent by Hall of Fame president Paul Kerr to Arthur Huggins, the brother of the Yankee skipper. In stunning content Kerr writes, “You have no doubt read in the papers by this time of your brother Miller Huggins’ election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.” The letter continues with outstanding content in this piece that came from the estate of Arthur Huggins.

It appears the Hall of Fame originally sent Arthur Huggins’ invitation to see his brother’s induction to the wrong address. On this envelope, Arthur’s New Jersey address has lines drawn through them and a St. Petersburg, Florida address written below. At the top of theenvelope is the Fair Lawn, New Jersey postmark with a February 5, 1964 date.