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BASEBALL BAT
DATING GUIDE |
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1880
Spalding's Official
Base Ball Guide |
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1908
Spalding's Base Ball
Guide Glove Advertising |
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1912 Spalding Guide
Baseball Advetising |
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Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide |
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1911 Spalding's
Officisl Base Ball
Guide |
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Item Details |
-
CIRCA
- 1877-1941
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PUBLISHER
-
1877-1893 A.G.
Spalding & Bros.
1894-1941 American Sports
Publishing
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SIZE
- 6
3/4" x 5"
-
PRICE GUIDE
-
1900-1941 $35.00-$100.00
1889-1900
$75.-$200.
Very Good -
Excellent
condition
(Hard cover books
carry a premium)
Information
Provided by:
Keymancollectibles.com
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Part of Spalding's Athletic
Library (1895-1941) the "Spalding's Official Base Ball
Guide" was published by A.G.
Spalding from 1877 to 1893, and from
1894-1941 by the American Sports
Publishing Company, a publishing house
founded by A.G. Spalding & Bros.
In 1934
Spalding bought out the Reach Company,
who also published a baseball guide,
but the two guides continued to be
published separately until 1939. In
1940 and 1941, the American Sports Publishing
Company published the "Spalding-Reach
Official Base Ball Guide",
after which it was replaced by The
Sporting News Baseball Guide. The
Sporting News Baseball Guide was
published every year from 1942 to 2006.
The Spalding’s Official Base Ball Guide
featured Rules of the game, editorials
from baseball writers on the state of
the game, statistics, photographs, and
analysis of the previous season for all
the Major League teams, and many of
the minor leagues across the nation.
The guides were also used to promote
Spalding's line of sporting goods, that
included baseball equipment such as
balls, uniforms, Baseball gloves, and
Bats, making the guides very popular
with collectors today.
The demand for these books relies on
the content inside the guides. The
condition of the cover is not as
critical as with other publications
that attract collectors because of the
display or content on the cover. The
condition of the cover will effect the
value slightly but the overall
condition of the guide, especially with
the pages will dictate the bulk of the
value. The Guides sell at
about the same price regardless
of the year the guide was published.
The older pre 1910 guides in excellent
+ condition do sell for little more.
Extremely rare issues published before
1889 will sell for a significant higher
price. hardcover books sometimes sell at a
premium.
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Spalding's Official
Baseball Guide Content & Cover
Samples |
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1919 White Sox
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1919 W.S. Recap |
Official Playing Rules |
1934 Table of Contents |
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The Spalding's Official Base Ball Guides are a treasure trove of information. A record of baseball history from the very beginning. Loaded with league and team statistics from the previous year, and interesting editorials that dictate how the game was viewed by both the fans, and media. The 1920 Guide features play by play for each inning of every game played in the 1919 World Series. Examples of content above, show Team Pictures, World Series recap, Official Playing Rules and the 1934 Table of contents. |
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1906 Baseball Bat
Advert
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1910 Uniforms
Advertising |
1911 Gove Advertising |
1911 catchers Mask Ad |
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Spalding also used these guides to help sell and advertise their extensive line of sporting goods. Pages of baseball equipment is featured at the end of the books. The guides provide collectors a documentation of the development of baseball equipment, and feature detailed articles about new features introduced into the market. The guides also offer an accurate method for dating of memorabilia. |
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1923 Base Ball Guide |
1926 Base Ball Guide |
1929 Base Ball Guide |
1930 Base ball Guide |
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1936 Baseball Guide
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1939 Baseball Guide |
1940 Baseball Guide |
1941 Baseball Guide |
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From the first issue in 1877 to 1919, other than a color change in 1895 when the guide was added to the Athletic Library, there is little to no changes in the layout and design of the covers. The 1880 cover pictured in the left column and the 1911 cover pictured at the top are examples. From 1920-1927 the cover is changed to the layout pictured on the 1923 cover above, and in 1925 the same basic design but in gold celebrating the guides 50th anniversary, like the 1926 issue pictured above. The 1928 issue is the same as the 1929 cover above, and the 1930 is the same but the umpire is cropped out. Each of the covers from 1931-1939 (the last Spalding issue) are unique to the specific year. The 1940 and 1941 issues pictured above are the Spalding-Reach merged issues. |
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KEYMAN COLLECTIBLES
RELATED RESOURSES |
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