Early Wynn

Early Wynn

Birthdate	1/6/1920
Death Date	4/4/1999
Debut Year	1939
Year of Induction	1972
Teams	Indians, Senators, White Sox
Position	Pitcher

Early Wynn won exactly 300 games despite missing all of 1945 and a portion of 1946 while serving in the United States Army during WWII.

Early Wynn's Lifetime Pass to the Hall of Fame

As an inductee to Cooperstown in 1972, Early Wynn received this Lifetime Pass to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Passes such as this rarely hit the market. Simple math tells us why. There are 312 members of the Hall of Fame as of 2016. Some were inducted before the Hall began issuing the passes and 22 mo

Early Wynn 1984 season pass to all American League games

Being a member of the Hall of Fame has its advantages. In the collection is a 1984 American League season pass issued to Early Wynn. Though quite a few of these passes are issued each year, Wynn ranked highly enough to receive just the 14th pass issued. The other intriguing aspect is that the pass i

Reverse of Early Wynn's 1984 AL season pass

The reverse of the pass states all the different policies surrounding entrance to the games. the 300-game winner has signed the bottom of the pass as the cardholder. Interestingly there is no uniform policy in Major League Baseball regarding season and Lifetime passes. Each club has it’s own s

Ralph Houk check made out to and endorsed by Early Wynn

Ralph Houk a five-time American League champ and four-time World Series winner, Ralph Houk was one of the most respected men in the game. In the collection is a personal check drawn on Houk’s account on March 16, 1985 made out to Hall of Fame pitcher Early Wynn. Signed by both men, this check

Early Wynn endorsement on reverse of Houk check

Early Wynn has written his recognizable signature on the back of the check in the endorsement area. Known for his competitiveness, Wynn was the master of the brushback pitch. Bucky Harris, his manager in Washington ordered him to throw brushback pitches when he got two strikes

Early Wynn autographed 1960 Topps card

The 1960 season would prove to be the last of Early Wynn’s seven All Star appearances. In that game Wynn pitched two scoreless innings. By that time Wynn’s abilities started to decline. Wynn’s final win of the 1962 season was the 299th of his career. The next win would be seven mon

A Story about Early Wynn

Lifetime passes were the brainchild of NL President Ford Frick; here’s a pictorial history

June 18th, 2016 Leave a comment

A newspaper man turned league publicist turned league president came up with a brilliant idea in 1934 — reward longtime National League players with a lifetime pass to all NL games. Senior Circuit owners approved Ford Frick’s proposal at the league meeting in December of ’34. A few months later, Frick sent out ornately decorated paper Lifetime Passes to the NL’s greatest players. He even sent one to Babe Ruth who appeared in all of 28 games for the Boston Braves in 1935. A 21-year veteran of the American League, the Babe was grateful if not surprised when he remarked, “At least the National League has a heart”. An image of the original paper pass presented to Hall of Fame outfielder Sliding Billy Hamilton can be seen below. A similar pass curiously issued to Stan Coveleski, a lifetime American Leaguer is also shown. Perhaps shamed by Ruth’s remarks, the American League joined forces in 1936 to issue a pass to all Major League contests. Players with twenty or more years of service received a solid gold pass. Seventeen men qualified for the true “golden ticket” — Ruth, Fred Clarke, Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins, Bill Dahlen, Harry Davis, Red Faber, Walter Johnson, […]