Collector hits a homerun with autographed Tigers baseballs exhibit at GRPM

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The opening of an exhibit featuring 1,200 Detroit Tigers'-autographed baseballs on Friday coincides with the Tigers' home opener Friday afternoon against the Chicago White Sox.

The exhibit at the Grand Rapids Public Museum is aptly titled, "Play Ball! The World's Largest Collection of Detroit Tigers autographed baseballs."

Tigers' fan Steve Nagengast said he wanted the public to be able to enjoy looking at the autographed baseballs and other memorabilia that date between 1901 and 2020.

The museum says Nagengast formed his collection "by making purchases through national auctions, personally meeting with players, networking with memorabilia dealers, attending national shows, and mailing baseballs to former (players)."

Nagengast hails from Detroit but has resided in Grand Rapids since 1988. He said it was in the late 1980s that he "stumbled into" buying a Mickey Mantle-autographed baseball. Mantle, of course, was a legendary New York Yankees player. That piqued his interest in collecting signed Detroit Tigers' baseballs.

"Shortly after that, (Al) Kaline came to town, Curtis Pride came to town, and at the malls. And so, I got their autographs. And then, the next thing you know I went to 11 fantasy camps, Tiger baseball camps," Nagengast said.

The fantasy camps give baseball fans a chance to vicariously live out their dreams of being a Major League player. They get to spend a week or weekend playing baseball with former MLB players and receiving instruction from them.

"Every winter, there would be 20 former Tigers. And I got to know these former players and got their autographs, built my collection," Nagengast said.

His love of baseball and the Tigers shone through during a media preview this week ahead of Friday's opening of the exhibit at the resplendent museum along the banks of the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids.

One section of the exhibit has a display with hand-sized cubes, each one representing a different position on the baseball field. A different Tigers star of yore is depicted on each side of the cube. It is labeled, "Build Your Detroit Tigers Dream Team."

"So, this was something that the museum did to add an interactive piece to the exhibit and all of the beautiful pieces that Steve donated," said Kellie Rosekrans, the public museum's director of Marking & Customer Strategy.

The exhibit features a nice array of baseballs signed by the 1984 World Series-champion Tigers, the team that had the best start in baseball history to a season: 35 wins in the first 40 games.

The autographed baseballs are arranged in the displays not by the year they were signed, but by the first year each player was a Detroit Tiger.

Baseballs signed by players who were members of a championship Tigers team have a star next to their display.

The exhibit has garnered a lot of interest, and former Tiger Dave Rozema (Grand Rapids Central High School) - who was the American League's Rookie Pitcher of the Year in 1977 - along with four-time Gold Glove centerfielder Mickey Stanley (Ottawa Hills High School) of the 1968 World Champion Tigers - were scheduled to do a meet-and-greet with some fans at an invite-only event this week at the museum.

One part of the exhibit allows you to listen to recordings of Tigers' greats such as Denny McLain discussing big moments in their careers.

The collection of baseballs and the legendary players whose autographs grace them is staggering. You may see a baseball signed by Ty Cobb or 1935 World Series-champion pitcher Schoolboy Rowe, or a vintage autograph from Heinie Manush, who starred for the Tigers in the 1920s.

"Even though I have the famous Tigers who are in the Hall of Fame, my favorite balls are the ones that are unique to certain situations," Nagengast said.

He pointed to an Al Travers-autographed baseball.

"Al Travers pitched one game for the Tigers, May 18th of 1912. And he was not even a baseball player. He got pulled off the streets to pitch. The Tigers decided that day to be non-competitive in a game against the Philadelphia Athletics. For one reason: Ty Cobb was suspended a game before in New York for going into the stands and beating up a fan who was calling his mother bad names. The commissioner of baseball suspended Ty Cobb for that week.

"The Tigers were not going to show up, to retaliate against the commissioner's harsh ruling, in their opinion. And they said to the commissioner, 'We're not playing in Philadelphia tomorrow. The commissioner said it will be a $5,000 fine, if you don't show up. They decided, 'We're showing up, but we're going to be non-competitive," Nagengast said.

So, the Tigers gave Al Travers, a 20-year-old college student, $50 to pitch in front of 25,000 people. He pitched the whole game and gave up 24 runs.

"He later went on to become a Catholic priest. He's the only Catholic priest to ever play Major League Baseball," Nagengast said.

He has a baseball signed by Ty Cobb in March 22,1961, months before he died on July 17, 1961.

Also on display is the Gold Glove that Al Kaline was given in 1967 for fielding excellence in right field. Next to it is a photograph of Kaline holding the Gold Glove trophy. Handing it to him in the photo was baseball star Vic Wertz. Billy Bruton and Bill Freehan are also in the photo.

"I got that from his estate after (Kaline) died. They got rid of a number of his memorabilia," Nagengast said.

Speaking of memorabilia, you will see when you arrive at the Play Ball! exhibit two blue spectator seats that were once part of Tiger Stadium.

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