Boston Red Sox
n.p., August 1, 1923
After Sale of Babe Ruth Sport Herrmann Bankrolls Boston Red Sox
Partially printed DS

[BOSTON RED SOX.] U. J. Herrmann, Partially Printed Document Signed, 2nd Preferred Stock Certificate for Boston American League Base-Ball Club, August 1, 1923, n.p. 2 pp., 15.375" x 9.125". Certificate printed in green and black ink and signed by U. J. Hermann but otherwise blank; attached receipt partially completed; receipt partially detached on perforation.

This stock certificate (No. 123) is still attached to its original receipt, and the receipt seems to record the transfer of 525 shares of Second Preferred Stock in the Boston American League Base-Ball Club from John C. Heyer, Edward L. Logan & U. J. Herrmann, Trustees, to U. J. Herrmann on August 1, 1923. Heyer, Logan, & Herrmann had purchased 3,500 shares of Second Preferred Stock on March 2, 1921, to provide $350,000 to the financially ailing club. This certificate from two and a half years later may have marked the dissolution of the partnership among Heyer, Logan, and Herrmann, at the same time that a syndicate led by Bob Quinn took ownership of the team.

Historical Background
In November 1916, Harry Frazee, a New York-based theater owner, producer, and director, and his friend Hugh Ward purchased the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Park from Joseph Lannin for a total obligation of $1 million. The pair paid $662,000 for the club itself?$400,000 in cash and a three-year note for $262,000, due in November 1919. The team also issued $150,000 of preferred stock to Charles Taylor, a previous owner of the Red Sox. The sale was the first of an American League franchise without the vetting and approval of American League President Ban Johnson, and Frazee and Johnson were soon publicly at odds.

In January 1920, with financial pressures mounting, Frazee controversially sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $100,000?$25,000 in cash and three promissory notes of $25,000 each due in November 1920, 1921, and 1922. Frazee also contracted for a mortgage on Fenway Park, held by the owners of the Yankees. Over the next several years, Frazee sold more of his top players to the Yankees.

In March 1921, the Red Sox Baseball Club had a total capital stock of $750,000 in shares of $100 each. Of this total, $150,000 was in First Preferred Stock, $350,000 was in Second Preferred Stock, and $250,000 was in Common Stock.

In August 1923, Frazee sold the poorly performing Red Sox to a syndicate led by J. A. Robert Quinn, of Columbus, Ohio, and Palmer Winslow for $1.15 million?paying $350,000 down and $500,000 over the next eight years, and assuming the $300,000 mortgage to the owners of the Yankees.

Urbine J. ?Sport? Herrmann (1870-1939) was born in Chicago to a lighthouse operator on Lake Michigan. As a teenager, he went to work in the mail room of a Milwaukee newspaper. He traveled around the country with the variety show organized by Buffalo Bill Cody and returned to Chicago in time for the 1893 Columbia Exposition. He worked at the Alhambra Theater before purchasing the Cort Theater in Chicago. He promoted international radio expositions in Chicago and New York and invested in the radio manufacturing business. For several years, he was associated with baseball magnate Harry Frazee in the ownership of the Boston Red Sox baseball team; Herrmann served as treasurer of the Boston Red Sox from 1918 to 1922. He was also an avid yachtsman. He died in an automobile wreck in Wisconsin.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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15.375" x 9.125"