Thurman Munson

A Piece of Yankees History: Thurman Munson’s 1973 Payroll Check

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Here’s an original New York Yankees payroll check signed by Thurman Munson—a tough and highly sought-after autograph from the beloved captain. 

Mastro sold the check in April 2006; here’s what they wrote about it:

In 1973, Thurman Munson had already established himself as a New York Yankee mainstay. He enjoyed one of his finest seasons that year by batting .301 and smashing a career-high twenty home runs. This colorful Yankees payroll check measures 3-1/2” x 7-7’16” and presents in overall EX/MT condition. Dated December 14, 1973, it is made payable to Thurman Munson for the amount of $1,740.54. Munson has endorsed the back “Thurman Munson” in blue ballpoint. The signature is clearly readable, projects “10” in strength and is free from any back stampings. A small area of peripheral paper loss on the reverse is removed from Munson’s quality endorsement. The Yankee captain and seven-time All-Star tragically died in 1979 in an airplane crash. A very difficult signature to acquire on an official New York Yankees check. LOA from Steve Grad/PSA DNA and LOA from James Spence Authentication

Minimum Bid $300

REA sold this exact check in the spring of 2010 for $1,998. But more recently, checks like this have been selling for ~$4k.

Happy collecting!

The 10 Most Significant Action Photos Of All-Time

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Kit Kiefer was a former editor of Baseball Cards Magazine and the VP of Professional Hobby Consultants, so he knows a thing or two about sports cards. Here’s his list of the 10 most significant action photos of all time, in order of importance. Not bad, huh?

The list was part of a much longer article in the February 1997 issue of Sports Card Magazine, in which he mentioned that “action photos on sports cards were non existent for the first 100 years, but today they are as common as a new pack of cards.”

In terms of popularity, you have to consider adding the 1991 Topps Carlton Fisk card featuring Cecil Fielder barreling toward him; here’s the Desert Shield version (4 Sharp Corners was offering it on eBay for $759 in November 2024).