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Willie Foster Signed Document
This nondescript-looking 1969 tax document from the Wilson County, Tennessee clerk's office carries the significant and scarce signature of W.H. (Willie) Foster -- the great Negro leaguer and baseball HOFer who led a long and exemplary life. The younger, half-brother of the more famous Andrew "Rube" Foster, known far and wide as the "Father of the Negro leagues," racked up 26 consecutive wins for Rube's Chicago American Giants in '26 and led them to NNL titles in '26 and '27. Foster may have been the Negro leagues' winningest pitcher -- a reputation perhaps gained by winning 11 out of 21 games against Satchel Paige -- and after he'd faced a team of white big league all-stars, Tiger great Charlie Gehringer told him, "If I could paint you white,I could get $150,000 for you right now" -- the sort of comment black players had to take as high praise back then. Denied big league entry, Foster became the baseball coach and dean of men at his alma mater, Alcorn College. The 7 x 8 1/4" document reads "T.A. Sexton, Clerk & Master" and was signed when Foster was 67 (he died in 1978). It specifies a payment of $24.18 and is inscribed, "Paid if full by W.H. Foster" in blue ink, the signature a splendid 8/10. Document itself is EX with a light fold mark and subtle browning along the edges. One of the rarest Negro league signatures. LOA.
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