GUEST: My grandfather's name was Charles Wagner. He played for the Boston Red Sox in the early 1900s. He played on their four World Series teams in the early years, and he was captain in 1912. He also managed in 1930.
APPRAISER: Yeah, he was a well-traveled ballplayer and a very good ballplayer. Today, I see a lot of baseball card collections, especially here at the ROADSHOW. And people always say, "I've got a Wagner card!" And they do, it's your grandfather. It's not the Honus Wagner card, but he was a heck of a ballplayer, and a real winner, a real champion. And that's what we have represented here, right?
GUEST: Yeah, these are the World Series pins and a watch. They didn't give rings in those days when he played.
APPRAISER: That's right. And we also have this sweater here as well. What are you interested in knowing about this material?
GUEST: It's through my family, and I obviously don't want to sell it, but I would like to insure it, and I would also like to know how to preserve it.
APPRAISER: Why don't we start with this photograph? This is a portion of a panoramic photograph that's been folded in of the 1915 championship team. There's someone very special on the 1915 championship team. A rookie, a pitcher from Baltimore. His name's Babe Ruth. And he's right here. Now your grandfather had a special situation with Babe Ruth, correct?
GUEST: Yes, he did. My grandfather was married and had some children, and he was very settled in his personal life. And he was assigned to keep an eye on Babe Ruth, because Babe Ruth was a little bit of a carouser.
APPRAISER: Even then he was a wild guy. Here we have him as this svelte, rookie pitcher. And this is actually, as I said, much longer, and every player on the team was represented. So your grandfather is also in this panoramic photo. Except we don't want to open it up just in case it cracks. With a photograph like this, you don't really want to unwrap it. That's been wrapped up for years and years and years. I would have this professionally restored, because this is one of the most desirable panoramic photographs you could possibly have.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: You've got everything going for it, including the fact that Babe Ruth is there. Now, these championship medallions, watch, medal, these are incredibly exciting to see in person. Very rare, extremely desirable. This one right here is from 1912. This is from 1916, it's a watch. And this one, very beautiful, this is from 1915. And, again, the Red Sox at that time, this was a juggernaut of a baseball team, and kind of powered by Babe Ruth as a pitcher. People kind of forget that he was a Hall of Famer as a pitcher. Amazing! So these are incredible. They're all engraved. They have your grandfather's name on them. Then we have this sweater. This really got me excited. I get excited about stuff, but this really got me excited because it's of immeasurable rarity. The condition of this, this thing looks like he took it off yesterday. I mean, the color, the mother of pearl, it's incredible. How have you held onto this?
GUEST: It's been in a box in the bottom of a closet.
APPRAISER: The preservation on this is totally remarkable. It has all the proper tagging. And then, of course, there it is. This sweater can date anywhere from 1912 to 1916. It is indicative of that team and that era for sure. A few of these items have sold recently. Other players'. And because of the Red Sox, and the fact that they're just so beautiful, these objects, and the rarity, they've sold for really big money. This collection as a whole, right here, that we have, I'd insure it for $300,000.
GUEST: Wow. Wow. That's great.
APPRAISER: That's just talking about what we have here.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: So it's very, very exciting. It's of immense historical significance.
GUEST: I'm shocked. And there's lots more. (laughs)
