A 1915 Boston Red Sox baseball pennant is one of only 3 known to exist
Photo credit: Jimmy Garcia/EJ’s Auction & Appraisal.
Two rare Boston Red Sox pennants belonging to revered baseball statistician Frank J. Willams are among close to 50 unique items in EJ’s Auction & Appraisal’s annual New Year Auction on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025.
While the auction includes fine art, antiques and vintage collectibles, the late Williams’ 1915 and 1916 Red Sox pennants are already creating buzz, particularly since the 1915 pennant has appliquéd felt lettering instead of paint, and it is only one of three known to exist. The 1916 Red Sox American League Champions pennant refers to the club as American League Champions and not World Champions, which suggests that this pennant was specially produced for sale at the 1916 World Series.
“Frank John Williams was an expert source on the history of baseball pitching. His major work involved correcting and compiling day-by-day pitching won-loss decisions for all American League pitchers for 1901 to 1919,” said Erik Hoyer, CEO of Glendale-based EJ’s Auction & Appraisal. “Mr. Williams was a longtime member of the Society for American Baseball Research, a published author, and a frequent visitor to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, where he conducted much of his research.”
Leaving a Legacy Behind
Laurie Ramsey, Williams’ niece, said her uncle grew up in Bridgeport, Connecticut and moved to Central Phoenix in 2008 to be closer to her family.
“I am so proud of his legacy,” Ramsey said. “He was an old-style bank accounting officer who spent his spare time researching baseball history and doing manual tabulations by hand. When he moved here, we took him to just one baseball game because he didn’t have to be present to enjoy the game. He also loved the history, the people and the numbers.”
Ramsey has fond memories of visiting Cooperstown with her uncle during family vacations.
“He had a thing for correcting the record books,” she said. “He would catch things the other statisticians would not catch.”
According to an October 1990 Bridgeport Post article written by Michael J. Daly, Williams once found an error in the record of Cy Young, lowering his games won total from 511 to 510. Later, though, he found some discrepancies that raised Young’s record back to 511.
“He was never looking to hurt anyone’s record. He just wanted to make sure historical records were accurate,” Ramsey said.
Williams never married – the love of his life passed away at a young age from breast cancer. Ramsey thinks his passion for baseball history helped him deal with his grief.
“He was passionate about all the Boston teams, and he even had incredible knowledge about the Boston Beaneaters, which are known now as the Atlanta Braves. While he researched other teams on the East Coast, including football and hockey, he had a love for old-time baseball,” she said.
Ramsey said that while Williams corresponded with baseball legends such as Waite Hoyt and Harry Hooper, it was his 7-year friendship with Smoky Joe Wood that he treasured most on a personal and educational level.
Bidding on Memorabilia from a Different Era
Ramsey said that in early 2021, Williams had finished his life’s work of submitting all his corrections to the record books, and he passed away later that year. While sorting through boxes of his memorabilia, including old baseballs, signed autographs and baseball cards, she said she gained a greater appreciation for his work.
“I see a lot of my uncle in me. He was a very precise person who would make lists and document everything,” she said. “I discovered things I had no idea that he had, and my love has deepened more for him. I think he would be pleased to know that his passion for history still lives with me and my children.”
She is especially grateful for the stories he shared.
“He gave us a glimpse into an era that doesn’t exist today. He told us about a baseball player that didn’t do well one year, so he gave part of his salary back. He shared the story of when Smoky Joe Wood got injured. Wood was so eager to return to baseball that he was willing to play any position and even be the water boy. Those things would never happen today,” she said.
Bidding is open now for EJ’s Auction & Appraisal’s January 4 New Year Auction. The full-service auction house holds “the best of the best” back for this annual online auction, which features fine art, antiques and high-end collectibles.
EJ’s Auction & Appraisal conducts weekly online estate auctions Saturdays at 10 a.m. and specialty auctions at noon every other Friday. Located at 5880 W. Bell Road in Glendale, the auction house is open for preview from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and Saturday morning at 9 a.m. prior to each weekly auction. For details, visit www.ejsauction.com or call 623-878-2003
