Identify that signature!

[Benjamin Grimm]

I got an e-mail from a long-time Mets fan who has a 1962 Mets autographed baseball.

There's one signature he can't identify, though, and it has me stumped as well.

It's the one below Jim Hickman and above Al Jackson. (It looks something like "A Cuthery")

From looking at the other names on the ball, that he could identify, my correspondent has ruled out the following Mets:

Casey Stengel
Roger Craig
Ray Daviault
Jay Hook
Sherman Jones
Ken MacKenzie
Bob Miller
Herb Moford
Bob Moorehead
Chris Cannizarro
Hobe Landrith
Dave Hillman
Craig Anderson
Al Jackson
Ed Bouchee
Gil Hodges
Felix Mantilla
Jim Marshall
Charlie Neal
Gus Bell
John Demerit
Jim Hickman
Frank Thomas
Red Ruffing
Rod Kanehl
Roger Hornsby
Red Kress
Solly Hemus

Any ideas?

[metirish]

Fascinating, the signature starts with the letter A and the surname with a C?


I think the C might be the initial for a middle name and the surname starts with a T?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Art Carney.

What do I win?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Art Carney.

What do I win?[/quote:y79nzcqu]

A Handy Housewife Helper. (Yes, it can core a apple!)

[Guest Edgy DC]

I see "Aed l. Thaing."

[Guest Edgy DC]

OK, let's play "That Signature Does Not Belong To..."

I'll go first.

That signature does not belong to...

Joe Ginsberg!

[Benjamin Grimm]

Here's another clue: If Gus Bell is on the ball, then it must have been signed on or before May 21, 1962, because that's when Gus departed for Milwaukee.

Which means we can rule out any players or personnel who arrived after that date.

[soupcan]

That Signature Does Not Belong To...

Marv Throneberry!

[Theoldmole]

First name looks like "George" to me -- "Geo" followed by a middle initial. I realize this is no help.

[Benjamin Grimm]

It could also be "Ted."

[metirish]

This didn't start out as a trivia question did it?

[Benjamin Grimm]

No, it's not a trivia question. (Well, I suppose it is, but not the kind where the asker has the answer.)

It's a guy who has a ball with an unidentifiable signature on it.

[ashie62]

Most teams in the 50's and 60's designated someone in the locker room, ballboy, Bullpen Catcher etc. to do clubhouse signings...It is possible this person signed there own name.

Who is it?? Best chance is PSA/Spence authentication

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'm leading toward the hard-to-find-an-autograph-of Elio Chacon.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

I bet you're right! The key would be to see if he was on the ball elsewhere. And to yell "Yo la tenga" and see of the ball rolls away.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Well, it's already been established (above) that he's not on the ball elsewhere.

And he was with the Mets in April and May, when Gus Bell was there.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Hmmmm...

[TransMonk]

The scribble on that pic does not look like Elio Chacon.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

62 Mets who didn't become 62 Mets:

Neil Chrisley
Aubrey Gatewood
Billy Loes
Bob Botz
Johnny Antonelli
Howie Nunn

[Guest Edgy DC]

The scribble on that pic does not look like Elio Chacon.

More relevant to our current issue is that it doesn't look like the scribble on the ball. And so we look further.