Lot # 2144: Amos Rusie Cut Signature BVG/JSA NM 7 - Extraordinary Hall of Fame Signature Rarity!

Exceedingly rare signature example of Hall of Fame pitcher Amos Rusie. Beckett/JSA has encapsulated the cut and graded the signature NM 7. The signature of Amos Rusie is one of the most elusive of all Hall of Fame players and one that is normally absent from even the most advanced collections. While we have no way of knowing exactly how many authentic Amos Rusie signatures have survived, we would estimate that there are probably fewer than ten known examples. This is only the third Rusie signature we have ever offered. Rusie has beautifully scripted his name in black fountain pen. The cut (4 x 1 inches) is mounted onto a plain white index card. Nicknamed "The Hoosier Thunderbolt," Amos Rusie was certainly the fastest pitcher of his day and many, including Connie Mack and John McGraw, considered him to be the fastest pitcher who ever lived. Rusie was so fast that the League had to change the pitching distance from fifty feet to sixty feet, six inches in order to give batters a chance against him. Although his pitching career was brief, it was nothing short of spectacular. Rusie won over 30 games in four consecutive years and led the League in strikeouts on five separate occasions. In 1898 Rusie, at the age of twenty-seven, suffered an arm injury from which he was unable to recover. Despite the injury and the fact that he missed two seasons while trying to recuperate, Rusie's reputation was such that in 1901 the Reds traded Christy Mathewson to the Giants in exchange for him, bum arm and all. Rusie appeared in only three games with the Reds before retiring, while Mathewson went on to win 373 games over the next sixteen years. In just nine full seasons Rusie won 246 games and finished his career with a 3.07 ERA. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977. The fact that Rusie passed away in 1942, but wasn't elected to the Hall of Fame until 1977, is no doubt largely responsible for the extreme rarity of his signature today. This is an extraordinary Hall of Fame signature rarity and an exceptional Rusie signature in all respects. A worthy key addition to even the most advanced world-class Hall of Fame signature collection!