Sports fans are eager to get the signatures of their favorite players and such a signature may one day be worth more than they might imagine.
Although all other sports has it's heroes and legends, baseball is probably the longest running and most well known of professional sporting events and baseball fans remain loyal to their favorite teams and players for life.
Baseball has been played since the 1830's and the first professional league was started around 1870. Baseball cards and other memorabilia has long been collected as part of the spirit of the game.
Babe Ruth, probably the most memorable player in baseball history, has been credited with making the signing of baseball memorabilia and the collection of it, what it is today.
Years ago, fans of professional baseball got autographs of players who went on to become synonymous with the game and became a large part of baseball history.
At the time, most baseball fans simply loved the game and loved to talk and boast about their favorite teams and what players were considered the best and an autograph was just a nice memento.
They had no idea that autographs and memorabilia would become the phenomenon that it has become and those who kept theirs have made an impact on their children and grandchildren.
If you have the good fortune to own a photograph, a letter, a baseball, or a baseball card with the signatures of any one of these historical players, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Joe DiMaggio, Cy Young, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig, you probably know that you own a very collectible item that may be worth a small fortune.
There are so many other well known baseball players whose signatures on memorabilia is sort after by avid collectors; Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Sandy Kofax, Jackie Robinson, Nolan Ryan, Roy Campenlla, Reggie Jackson, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, and Jimmie Foxx.
Don Drysdale, Ernie Banks, Duke Snyder, Roberto Clemente, Honus Wagner, Joe Morgan, Hank Greenberg, Vida Blue, Johnny Bench, Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Rollie Fingers, and the list goes on.
Some are more sort after than others, but in time, the less important names may surface to become the ones with the most value.
There has been many great moments in baseball history like Reggie Jackson of the New York Yankees hitting three home runs in the 1977 World Series, or Dave Morehead of Boston pitching a no hitter against Cleveland in 1965, or Ricky Henderson of the Oakland A's breaking Lou Brocks stolen bases record in 1982.
Many of today's baseball players are destined to become a collector's windfall. If you keep track of the game of baseball, you know who they are and one, their signatures may become sort after collectibles.