My grandmother passed away recently and so I was going through some of her things. Among a bunch of old letters that were written from her father to her mother (my great grandparents) was one letter dated October 10, 1923. When I took it out of the envelope a ticket stub to game 1 of the World Series fell out! I couldn't believe my great-grandfather went to the first World Series game at Yankee stadium. The Yanks lost to the Giants that day which made him happy as he was a huge Giants fan. I have no intention of selling the ticket at this time but what would it be worth? How much does the letter (that mentions the ticket and the game) up the value?

Great story. It's a Yankee Stadium stub which is a bit more desirable, probably worth about $300-500.

I know the McAlpin Hotel. It is still a hotel today (I think), and it is right across the street from Madison Square Garden. It kept the name McAlpin until the 1980's, then it was bought by another hotel. In the early 1970's, it used to host chess tournaments, and I played in a couple of them.

Nice find! I would think your ticket stub is right around the $400-$500 range with the letter. It could be a bit more since Yankee Stadium artifacts might be a little bit hotter at the moment.

Hey! I was writing my response right as Barry posted his...looks like we're on the same page.

EDIT: Dan edited his multiple posts. My lame joke no longer fits the situation!

I think I know why it hangs up like it does...it can barely take in more than one post at a time. I get mad when it hangs up and I keep hitting the "Respond" button. Lucky for me that I can delete my messages.

It is the first World Series game ever played at Yankee Stadium, so it could be worth a little more than Dan and I suggested.

Hey guys... I'm gonna have to respectfully disagree here. That's a stub to the first World Series game in Yankee Stadium, in great condition. I've seen 1923 Game 1 stubs go for well over a grand. And with the provenance and story...

I'd say $1200-1500, in a major auction.

(I'd buy it for $1000 in a heartbeat.)

Well, there you go. Yankee stadium stuff IS hotter than I thought.

A knowledgeable friend just gave me a $1500 quote, so it appears that David is of course correct in his assessment. I was just going to say, "Ask David"! Honestly, I would have thought it to be worth more.

Of course, if Ben doesn't want to sell, I could always offer to pay for his European vacation...

Just a thought.

BTW, the Yankees, as Ben said, did lose that game.

An old geezer, by the name of Casey Stengel, hit a famous nside-the-park home run which provided the margin.

Pardon my underpricing of the stub...I am conservative when it comes to appraisals.

WOW! Thanks for all of the input. I was guessing somewhere between $500-$1000.00 but as it was the FIRST World Series game in Yankee stadium and has the letter I could see it going higher. I'm definitely going to keep digging in hopes that I find more! If I ever decide to sell I will certainly let the board know.

On another note - my grandparents also collected antique photos and I found a real nice image of a 19th century player in a bib uniform. I'm going to post a pic of that now as well as another 19th century sports image. Any info on either of these would be appreciated. Thanks again for everyone sharing their info.

i just found this thread...wow, very cool find! you must have flipped when you saw this...the letter's content is equally as cool.

best-
MS

Does anyone know if it would be possible to buy an original wire photo of Stengel sliding into home after hitting his inside the park homer? If not, where can I purchase a high quality repro?

The easiest (and cheapest) solution to this is to just go with the repro. Write the National Baseball Library's photo department in Cooperstown, asking them if they have an image of this in their archive. To help expedite the process, be sure to give them the date of the game. It might also help to tell them who the other player (and home plate ump) in the image would have been. They file their images by player name. Chances are greater than not that such an image, if they have one, would be in the Stengel file, but you never know. 15 years ago, the cost of obtaining an 8X10 reproduction was $20--they may have raised their prices since then. Perhaps you may be able to obtain a larger version for an added charge. If they have one or more images of the play in question, they will send you xeroxes of what they have. You then send back the copies of the photos you wish to have reproduced.