Antiques Roadshow

GUEST

That's my father, and he was a baseball umpire. And he still umpires at the age of 90.

APPRAISER

90-- when did he start?

GUEST

He started in 1946 when he was, I guess, 31 years old. He did Major League games when the Big League teams came to Hawaii.

APPRAISER

And how many teams came over the years?

GUEST

Uh, well, the Yankees came, the Dodgers came. Cardinals.

APPRAISER

So the big names.

GUEST

The big names.

APPRAISER

And you would occasionally go to the games.

GUEST

I would always go to the games.

You would always go to the games. GUEST

(laughs)

APPRAISER

Which leads us to our second photo.

GUEST

Okay.

APPRAISER

Now, this had to be a special day for you. This is you in the center, right?

GUEST

Yes.

APPRAISER

Jackie Robinson-- by the way, giving you a very weird look here. I mean, were you giving him a pinch?

GUEST

I think he's giving Campy a weird look.

APPRAISER

Ah. And then Roy Campanella on the other side.

Right. APPRAISER

What's your memory of this day?

GUEST

Well, my father said, "Meet me near the dugout before the game," and so I showed up and, and he opened the gate, called me in, and he said, "I want my boy to sit right here." And it was right next to Jackie Robinson.

APPRAISER

Wow! What were you thinking?

GUEST

I remember thinking, "God, does he have big biceps!"

GUEST AND APPRAISER

(both

laughing) APPRAISER

What was he like? Did he talk to you?

GUEST

He didn't talk to me much, but it must have been a drag for him to have a ten-year-old kid sitting next to him the whole game. But he did give me his bat.

APPRAISER

And that, unfortunately, your parents threw away. I can't believe it.

GUEST

Uh... They made a terrible mistake.

APPRAISER

(laughs): They made a terrible... But they didn't make a mistake here about getting a photo. You and Campy and Robinson together. And this was 1956?

GUEST

It was '56.

Here you have the two trailblazers of integration

Jackie Robinson, who joined the Dodgers in '47. Campy followed him a year later. You know, they were among the first two African American ballplayers to make the All-Star team, in '49, with Don Newcombe and Larry Doby. Campanella went on to win three MVP trophies.

GUEST

Wow.

APPRAISER

Robinson won one, in '49, and of course, the pinnacle of their careers, they defined the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1950s, and they won the World Series in 1955.

GUEST

Right, beating the Yankees.

APPRAISER

Beating the Yankees, of course.

GUEST

Right, right.

APPRAISER

Which leads us really into value. And it's kind of bittersweet here. This is the last trip that Jackie Robinson ever took with the Dodgers.

GUEST

Oh, I didn't know that.

APPRAISER

Because when they returned, the Dodgers, after all he did, traded him to the Giants-- the New York Giants! And Jackie Robinson could not live to, to play for the New York Giants-- he retired. So you have one of the last photos of Jackie Robinson in a Dodgers uniform.

GUEST

That I had not realized.

APPRAISER

Now, the second thing, it's rare to ever see them sign a photo together, and it has perfect provenance. We know the day it was taken! I would place a conservative auction estimate of $6,000 to $8,000 on the photo.

GUEST

I can't believe that. (chuckles)

APPRAISER

And if you're, you know, if you're going to insure it, I'd insure it for at least $10,000.

GUEST

So even photographs in which I appear have some value.

APPRAISER

Well, their signatures were faked so much by their bat boy, Charlie "The Brow" DiGiovanni, that to have something where you can prove that you were there and they signed it for you, it's, it's provenance, it's authenticity.

GUEST

I don't think Charlie made the trip.

APPRAISER

Yeah, I don't think Charlie made the trip, either.

GUEST

No.

APPRAISER

But this is not only a fabulous personal piece, memento to you, but it's a great snapshot of history.

GUEST

Wow, thank you. That's really wonderful, really wonderful.