1946 Heilbroner Baseball Bureau Information Card Filled Out & Signed by Jackie Robinson....

Click the image to load the highest resolution version.

Sold on Feb 26, 2022 for:

Sign-in or Join (free & quick)

Get one of these:

Share this lot

Track Item Printable Auction Results

Sell One of These

Description

Auction Info

Guides & Info

Description

The statistics service that would come to be known as "The Blue Book"

1946 Heilbroner Baseball Bureau Information Card Filled Out & Signed by Jackie Robinson. Long before the computer age simplified the process of all forms of record-keeping, personnel files required careful, hands-on management to ensure all data regarding addresses, team affiliation and the like remained valid. For decades, organized baseball maintained that adjective though the use of 3x5" index cards that were created upon the admission of a player to the professional ranks and then revisited annually to update any information that might have changed in the previous calendar year.

This particular specimen is arguably the most important of its kind ever created, marking a tectonic shift in the sociological geography of the professional game. It dates to approximately March 1, 1946, the day that the Brooklyn Dodgers organization signed Jackie Robinson to a farm league contract that made the multi-sport talent the first black man in organized baseball, a member of the Montreal Royals of the Triple-A International League. This card was likely awaiting Robinson in his locker and completed the day of his arrival. We should note that it appears that Robinson began to fill out the year with four digits--"1946"--before realizing the first two were pre-printed, thus changing his "19" to "46."

Like the aforementioned companion piece, this card was filled out in Robinson's hand, filling in blanks for name, date of birth, past professional experience and the like. An unknown hand created a new field to contain the word "Negro," an innovation never before required but officially implemented by the service going forward with the addition of a box for "Race." That same hand likewise falsely assumes Robinson's birth name was John when, in fact, it was Jack. Robinson was childless in 1946, but we suspect that the "4" dependents related to some combination of wife, parents and/or siblings. There is an address adjustment and a few other minor alterations to obverse, while text on verso documents Robinson's historic transfer from Montreal to Brooklyn in 1947.

The card exhibits the degree of handling and storage wear expected for its utility and age, but no faults of visual distraction. This is one of the earliest documents relating to Jackie Robinson's brave and essential battle for equality in our national pastime, a relic that speaks to the enormous power of sports as an agent for positive change. Full LOA from PSA/DNA.