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1919 Jake Daubert Cincinnati Reds World Series Pin (Daubert Family Provenance!)
Sold For:
$82,250
Year: 1919
Auction: 2011 Spring
Lot #: 9
Auction: Post-1900 Baseball Memorabilia
It"™s rare when the losing team in a championship series is remembered more than the winners. Such was the fate of the 1919 Cincinnati Reds, victorious over the infamous 1919 Chicago "Black Sox" in a nine-game series tainted by the scandal that resulted in the lifetime ban of Shoeless Joe Jackson, Buck Weaver, and six others. Now, though, perhaps the most important of all surviving relics from the Reds"™ victory has emerged to help tell the story of a great team overshadowed by an unfortunate moment in history. Offered here is one of only four known surviving examples of a Cincinnati Reds 1919 World Series championship pin. This exceptional rarity was issued to Reds first baseman Jake Daubert and has been consigned to this auction directly by the family. The front of the 14K gold pin features a single diamond set in the center of a baseball-diamond motif. Lettered in relief around the diamond motif is "World's Champions 1919." The name "Jacob E. Daubert" is engraved on the reverse as is the name of the manufacturer "F. H. Co." and the weight "14K." In Near Mint condition.
This pin was the official award given to players on the 1919 Reds following their five games to three victories over the White Sox in the World Series, and in 1919 was the ultimate symbol of triumph in what history would soon remember as baseball"™s most controversial World Series. This award declared recipients as honored members of the World"™s Champions. Before 1922, World Series champions normally received pendants, pins, or some other type of special jewelry item to commemorate their triumph. In modern times, of course, the tradition is the presentation of a ring. But in 1919, a finely crafted 14k gold pin served this purpose. Each pin was designed with the recipient"™s name engraved on the reverse. The only other 1919 World Series championship pin known to exist in private hands that has ever been auctioned was the one presented to third baseman Heinie Groh. His family sold his award decades ago. Like many of the baseball-collecting world"™s greatest treasures, it wound up in the legendary Barry Halper Collection. Buried in a mountain of rare and valuable items in the 1999 Barry Halper Collection auction conducted by Sotheby"™s, it sold for $17,250 at that time. No other example has been offered in the collecting world before or since. The only other known examples are those of pitcher Roy Mitchell (in a private collection purchased directly from the Mitchell family long ago) and Edd Roush (on permanent display at the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum).
In the letter from Jake Daubert"™s granddaughter that accompanies the 1919 Championship pin, Joan Daubert-Becker writes that she remembers her grandmother pulling out the pin on occasion, and telling her the story of how the Reds felt they didn"™t get the respect they were due. In full:
My name is Joan Daubert Becker. I am the granddaughter of Jacob E. Daubert, first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds. Though my grandfather died before I was born, my grandmother Gertrude Daubert, kept his memory alive. I loved hearing stories of how he used to go hunting with Ty Cobb. Casey Stengel would send my grandmother tickets (box seat) every year. My godmother was the wife of the Reds' manager. Once in awhile, "ma" would bring out the 1919 World Series pin. On the back it read "Jacob E. Daubert." In my child's mind, I thought it was pretty, but didn't understand its significance until many years later. I knew my grandfather had played in a World Series, but didn't know how infamous the 1919 Black Sox series was! I do remember my grandmother saying that "they" (the Reds) didn't get the respect they were due. Right before my grandmother died, she handed down the 1919 Player's pin to me for safekeeping. I've had the pin ever since, from 1962 until the present. I hope its new owner cherishes it as much as I have.
No one could take away their title, but when the scandal broke shortly after the series, the respect accorded the 1919 World"™s Champions was without question diminished. All the attention was given to the Black Sox scandal, and the very nature of the scandal itself gave the impression that the Reds did not deserve the World Championship, that they only "won" because the Black Sox threw the series. Truth be told, the Reds were one of the best teams of the era. From 1918 through 1928, no National League team won more regular-season games than Cincinnati"™s 1919 club. And yet, their 1919 World Series victory was always tarnished. It just was not the same to be declared World Champions because of a World Series that was alleged to have been thrown. Was the series definitely thrown? Would the Reds have won had there been no scandal? We"™ll never know.
Jake Daubert was one of the top first basemen of the early twentieth century, a slick fielder who also won a pair of National League batting titles. He had learned hard work at an early age, supporting his family by working in a coal mine at age eleven, before the implementation of child-labor laws. As a player, he was one of the earliest activists for players"™ rights, which were virtually nonexistent at the time, a fact that did not endear him to baseball owners. No doubt, he sympathized with many of the issues raised by members of the 1919 White Sox who were at odds with owner Charles Comiskey and tempted into conspiring with gamblers offering cash in exchange for a less-than-stellar effort during the Series. Ironically, Daubert died due to complications from an appendectomy five years to the day after the Reds took game eight of the 1919 World Series. At age 40, he was still an active player at the time of his death, which sent shock waves through baseball.
Most collectors are totally unfamiliar with the 1919 Reds pin award because it is so rare. Over and above the incredible rarity of the piece, and the significance of the 1919 World Series, the championship award presented to each player has an irony and a story unlike any other World Series award. This is one of the greatest championship items from any year that could possibly exist and one of the greatest items in existence related to the Black Sox scandal. Robert Edward Auctions would be excited about offering this item consigned from anywhere. But for us it"™s all the more exciting, and a special honor, to present this treasure directly from the Daubert family. Reserve $10,000. Estimate (open). SOLD FOR $82,250
This pin was the official award given to players on the 1919 Reds following their five games to three victories over the White Sox in the World Series, and in 1919 was the ultimate symbol of triumph in what history would soon remember as baseball"™s most controversial World Series. This award declared recipients as honored members of the World"™s Champions. Before 1922, World Series champions normally received pendants, pins, or some other type of special jewelry item to commemorate their triumph. In modern times, of course, the tradition is the presentation of a ring. But in 1919, a finely crafted 14k gold pin served this purpose. Each pin was designed with the recipient"™s name engraved on the reverse. The only other 1919 World Series championship pin known to exist in private hands that has ever been auctioned was the one presented to third baseman Heinie Groh. His family sold his award decades ago. Like many of the baseball-collecting world"™s greatest treasures, it wound up in the legendary Barry Halper Collection. Buried in a mountain of rare and valuable items in the 1999 Barry Halper Collection auction conducted by Sotheby"™s, it sold for $17,250 at that time. No other example has been offered in the collecting world before or since. The only other known examples are those of pitcher Roy Mitchell (in a private collection purchased directly from the Mitchell family long ago) and Edd Roush (on permanent display at the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum).
In the letter from Jake Daubert"™s granddaughter that accompanies the 1919 Championship pin, Joan Daubert-Becker writes that she remembers her grandmother pulling out the pin on occasion, and telling her the story of how the Reds felt they didn"™t get the respect they were due. In full:
My name is Joan Daubert Becker. I am the granddaughter of Jacob E. Daubert, first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds. Though my grandfather died before I was born, my grandmother Gertrude Daubert, kept his memory alive. I loved hearing stories of how he used to go hunting with Ty Cobb. Casey Stengel would send my grandmother tickets (box seat) every year. My godmother was the wife of the Reds' manager. Once in awhile, "ma" would bring out the 1919 World Series pin. On the back it read "Jacob E. Daubert." In my child's mind, I thought it was pretty, but didn't understand its significance until many years later. I knew my grandfather had played in a World Series, but didn't know how infamous the 1919 Black Sox series was! I do remember my grandmother saying that "they" (the Reds) didn't get the respect they were due. Right before my grandmother died, she handed down the 1919 Player's pin to me for safekeeping. I've had the pin ever since, from 1962 until the present. I hope its new owner cherishes it as much as I have.
No one could take away their title, but when the scandal broke shortly after the series, the respect accorded the 1919 World"™s Champions was without question diminished. All the attention was given to the Black Sox scandal, and the very nature of the scandal itself gave the impression that the Reds did not deserve the World Championship, that they only "won" because the Black Sox threw the series. Truth be told, the Reds were one of the best teams of the era. From 1918 through 1928, no National League team won more regular-season games than Cincinnati"™s 1919 club. And yet, their 1919 World Series victory was always tarnished. It just was not the same to be declared World Champions because of a World Series that was alleged to have been thrown. Was the series definitely thrown? Would the Reds have won had there been no scandal? We"™ll never know.
Jake Daubert was one of the top first basemen of the early twentieth century, a slick fielder who also won a pair of National League batting titles. He had learned hard work at an early age, supporting his family by working in a coal mine at age eleven, before the implementation of child-labor laws. As a player, he was one of the earliest activists for players"™ rights, which were virtually nonexistent at the time, a fact that did not endear him to baseball owners. No doubt, he sympathized with many of the issues raised by members of the 1919 White Sox who were at odds with owner Charles Comiskey and tempted into conspiring with gamblers offering cash in exchange for a less-than-stellar effort during the Series. Ironically, Daubert died due to complications from an appendectomy five years to the day after the Reds took game eight of the 1919 World Series. At age 40, he was still an active player at the time of his death, which sent shock waves through baseball.
Most collectors are totally unfamiliar with the 1919 Reds pin award because it is so rare. Over and above the incredible rarity of the piece, and the significance of the 1919 World Series, the championship award presented to each player has an irony and a story unlike any other World Series award. This is one of the greatest championship items from any year that could possibly exist and one of the greatest items in existence related to the Black Sox scandal. Robert Edward Auctions would be excited about offering this item consigned from anywhere. But for us it"™s all the more exciting, and a special honor, to present this treasure directly from the Daubert family. Reserve $10,000. Estimate (open). SOLD FOR $82,250