Thank you to all who wrote in with comments and information regarding our previous e-letters about the 1927 Yankees. Thanks especially to Adam Moraine and Rhys Yeakley who have provided the following additional information on these 3 "phantom" 1927 Yankees' members who never appeared in a regular season game that year but who wore the uniform at least some of the time:

Johnny Nee--thought to be only a team scout
Born 1890/Died 1957
Career 1907-1926, never made the major leagues

Roy Chesterfield--an active pitcher who never appeared in a game
Born 1903/Died unknown
Career minor leaguer who never made the majors.

James Picken-team bullpen catcher for some of the season.
1927 was his only year in baseball and he is the only Picken who played in any professional league that year and some references list him as "Pickens" with an 's'. He played for the Easton Farmers also in 1927.

This week we will look at collecting the individual member signatures on flat items of the 1934 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals "Gashouse Gang."

Manager: HOF-Frank Frisch (d.73)

Starting eight: Substitutes:
James "Rip" Collins 1B (d.70) Burgess Whitehead (d.93)
HOF-Frank Frisch 2B (d.73) a player-manager Bill DeLancey (d.46)
Pepper Martin 3B (d.65) Chick Fullis (d.46)
HOF-Leo Durocher SS (d.91) Buster Mills (d.91)
Jack Rothrock OF (d.80) Pat Crawford (d.94)
HOF-Joe Medwick OF (d.75) Kiddo Davis (d.83) *see note 1
Ernie Orsatti OF (d.68) Gene Moore (d.78)
Spud Davis C (d.84) Francis Healy (d.97) *see note 2
Lew Riggs (d.75)
Red Worthington (d.63)

Pitchers: Coaches:
HOF-Dizzy Dean (d.74) *See note 3
Paul Dean (d.81)
Tex Carleton (d.77) Other:
Bill Hallahan (d.81) HOF-General Manager Branch Rickey
Bill Walker (d.66)
HOF-Jesse Haines (d.78)
Jim Mooney (d.79)
HOF-Dazzy Vance (d.61)
Jim Lindsey (d.63)
Flint Rhem (d.69)
Jim Winford (d.70)
HOF-Burleigh Grimes (d.85)
Clarence Heise (d.99)

Since most team collectors attempt to assemble their items on flat items in order to display the completed team together, we will apply the scarcity index key (SIK) below only to our estimate of the total number of signed flat items we have seen for each person listed above:

SIK-I: Extinct (we have never seen one)-none in this category

SIK-II: Extremely Rare (we have seen 1-10)-none in this category

SIK-III: Very Rare (we have seen 11-25)-Delancey, Fullis and Lindsey

SIK-IV: Rare (we have seen 26-100)-Martin, Orsatti, Worthington, Walker, Rhem, Winford, and Heise

SIK-V: Uncommon (we have seen 101-500)-Collins, Rothrock, Moore, Riggs, Carleton, Hallahan, Mooney, Vance, and Rickey

SIK-VI: Readily available (deceased with little or no autograph-show or private signing participation but examples are routinely offered in the market largely or primarily due to volume mail responses; check or other document releases; and/or overall widespread collecting of that person during their lifetime)-Frisch, Durocher, Medwick, Spud and Kiddo Davis, Whitehead, Mills, Crawford, Healy, Paul and Dizzy Dean, Haines, and Grimes

SIK-VII: Plentiful (deceased but seemingly endless quantities exist from participation in modern shows, private signings, and/or fan-mail responses or a combination
thereof)-N/A

SIK-VIII: living-N/A

Notes:
1: Not to be confused for George Stacey Davis
2: Not to be confused for Fran Healy, his nephew who played from 1969-1978 for the Royals, Giants, and Yankees
3: If any of our readers know who this team's coaches were, please let us know

Summary: One reason this team is so widely collected is that it is possible to readily obtain nearly all of its key members. Moreover, most of the entire roster can be found for a reasonable cost if one has the patience and means to acquire them. For the completionist, Delancey, Fullis, and Lindsey pose the greatest challenge.

This week we will look at collecting the individual member signatures on flat items of the 1923 New York Yankees, the franchise's first world's championship team.

Manager: HOF--Miller Huggins (d.29)

Starting eight: Substitutes:
Wally Pipp 1B (d.65) Fred Hofmann (d.64)
Aaron Ward 2B (d.61) Elmer Smith (d.84)
Joe Dugan 3B (d.82) Harvey Hendrick (d.41)
Everett Scott SS (d.60) Benny Bengough (d.68)
HOF--Babe Ruth OF (d.48) Ernie R. Johnson (d.52) *See Note 1
Whitey Witt OF (d.88) Mike McNally (d.65)
Bob Meusel OF (d.77) HOF--Lou Gehrig (d.41)
Wally Schang C (d.65) Hinkey Haines (d.79)
Mike Gazella (d.78)


Pitchers: Coaches:
Bob Shawkey (d.80) Chas. O'Leary (d.41) *See Note 3
Joe Bush (d.74)
HOF--Herb Pennock (d.48) Other:
HOF--Waite Hoyt (d.84) HOF-General Manager Ed Barrow (d.53)
Sam P. Jones (d.66) *See Note 2 Owner Jacob Ruppert (d.39)
Carl Mays (d.71)
George Pipgras (d.86)
Oscar Roettger (d.86)

Since most team collectors attempt to assemble their items on flat items in order to display the completed team together, we will apply the scarcity index key (SIK) below only to our estimate of the total number of signed flat items we have seen for each person listed above:

SIK-I: Extinct (we have never seen one)-none in this category

SIK-II: Extremely Rare (we have seen 1-10)-none in this category

SIK-III: Very Rare (we have seen 11-25)-O'Leary, Hendrick

SIK-IV: Rare (we have seen 26-100)-Huggins, Pipp, Ward, Scott, Schang, Hofmann, Johnson, McNally, and Jones

SIK-V: Uncommon (we have seen 101-500)-Pennock, Haines, Bush, and Mays

SIK-VI: Readily available (deceased with little or no autograph-show or private signing participation but examples are routinely offered in the market largely or primarily due to volume mail responses; check or other document releases; and/or overall widespread collecting of that person during their lifetime)-Dugan, Ruth, Meusel, Witt, Smith, Bengough, Gehrig, Gazella, Shawkey, Hoyt, Pipgras, Roettger, Barrow, and Ruppert

SIK-VII: Plentiful (deceased but seemingly endless quantities exist from participation in modern shows, private signings, and/or fan-mail responses or a combination
thereof)-N/A

SIK-VIII: living-N/A

Notes:
1. Not to be confused with Ernie T. Johnson, who pitched from 1951-1959 for the Braves and the Orioles
2. Not to be confused with Samuel "Sad Sam" Jones (d.71), who pitched from 1951-1964 for the Indians, Cubs, Cardinals, Giants, and Orioles
3. If our readers know of any other coaches from this team, please let us know

Summary: One reason this team is so widely collected is that it is possible to readily obtain nearly all of its members. Moreover, if one has the patience and means, all of the team is attainable. And only Harvey Hendrick is a significant challenge for a collector who wants to acquire all roster players from this historically significant team.