| DATE SHOT: 1954 SUBJECTS: Birdie Tebbetts, Andy Seminick APPROXIMATE SIZE: 8-1/8"x10" MARKS / STAMPING: Hand-signed by Birdie Tebbetts ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Signature is original, Photo is Type 1 Original - Printed from the original negative within about 2 years of when it was shot SIGNERS: Birdie Tebbetts COMMENTS / CONDITION: As with all of my signed items, the signature is guaranteed to pass further inspection by any major authenticator, or your money back. See scans for signature quality and photo condition. This is one of a number of photos and ephemera to be offered this week which hail from the personal collection of All-Star player Andy Seminick. Wear on these, if any, is mostly confined to minor corner and edge wear, but see scans for further details including condition. We do not deal in stock images or modern reprints, and all scans shown are of the actual vintage photograph, slide or negative being sold. If you have any questions about a particular piece, please ask before the auction ends. BIO: George Robert Tebbetts was born in Burlington, VT and died in 1999 in Manatee, FL. He went to college at Providence College. He played major league baseball from 1936 to 1952 as catcher for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians, appeared in the 1940 World Series, and was selected 4 times as an All-Star. He went on to manage the Cincinnati Redlegs, Milwaukee Braves and Cleveland Indians. Tebbetts also earned a reputation for speaking his mind and for his frank assessments. About his career, he regarded himself as an ordinary player and manager who worked hard. Between other things, he said: "My whole world is wrapped up in baseball, and that means I must live the loneliest of lives. I can't discuss my problems with my friends or the newspapermen or the players or the coaches or my wife." "I was sold for a dollar by one drunk owner to another." "There ought to be a second-string or "Junior Hall of Fame" for guys like me. I had a lifetime average of .270 and I'm proud of it. I poured my life's blood into it. I clawed and scrambled and fought and hustled to get it." About the theory that catching was difficult, he expressed: "I don't think the physical part of catching is what it's cracked up to be. I think it's an easy job. The only thing about it is you sweat more than anybody else. Most catchers catch because they can't play anyplace else. They don't have much to complain about. They've got to be happy. There are too many catchers who are not good catchers who are showboating too much so that they can keep their job." When Tebbetts scouted for Cincinnati, in 1953, he filed such no-nonsense reports as this on a promising young pitcher: "Major league stuff and a great arm. Screwy in the head. Eliminate head and I recommend him. Get good surgeon." Finally, Tebbetts also offered his version of what makes a baseball manager successful: "If my players like me it's an accident of personality. I happen to like my players and I treat them like men. If a manager doesn't have confidence in his ball players, even when they're going badly, they're not going to have confidence in themselves. And when a ballplayer's confidence is gone, you haven't got a ballplayer. If you want to be a good manager, get good ballplayers" Andrew Wasil Seminick was born in 1920 in Pierce, WV and died in 2004 in Melbourne, FL. He played major league baseball from 1943 to 1957 as catcher for the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies, appeared in the 1950 World Series, and was selected in 1949 as an All-Star. After retiring, Seminick worked for the Philadelphia organization for the rest of his life. First, as a coach with the Phillies (1957-58), then managed 11 Phillies' minor-league teams (1959-66, 1970-73), and returned as a coach for the Phillies (1967-69). After that, he scouted and served as a roving minor-league instructor for the Phillies (1974 to mid-1980s). Notably, ninety of the players he managed or coached eventually played in the major leagues. In the 1990s, Seminick served as a catching instructor for Philadelphia in spring training and in the Florida Instructional League. SKU: XP12757
Item: XP12757
|