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‘Handsome Ransom’ Jackson, Ty Cline And More! Photographer Dan Xeller Honors Baseball History

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Ransom Jackson

(Dan Xeller photo)

There’s nothing like the faces of former players. From day to day, they’ve been cast as heroes or villains. Their eyes tell all.

When I found out about photographer Dan Xeller, I had to know more. As a collector and fan, he’s found a way to convert his TTM skills into a unique way to preserve baseball history. He was kind to share his fascinating story by e-mail.

Q: Tell us about your baseball project.

A: I have been a baseball fan since I was in diapers and was fortunate to have a family who were fans. My grandparents on both sides knew major leaguers and even considered some of them friends! After doing a bunch of research on ball-players from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, I realized that there were many
forgotten stories. I also started heavily researching the Negro leagues and wanted to meet some of the
players and hear their stories. Many of these former players had a career in baseball and then walked
away from it, many times getting a “normal” job and closing that chapter of their life.

What I’m trying to achieve with my photographs is capturing something from the players’ past and then marrying it with an interest, hobby, activity, etc… in the present. I started out thinking that I would self-publish a book of the portraits with some outtakes of the interviews but now it has grown into a potential documentary film down the road.

Q: When you met “Handsome Ransom” Jackson, what did you learn about his take on autograph collectors?

A:  I was fortunate enough to spend an afternoon with Ransom Jackson of the 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers at
his home and speak at length with him about his past and present. Out of the blue, he mentioned to me that he had some scrapbooks filled with “interesting” and “bizarre” letters he has received over the years in the form of praise and autograph requests. He says he only keeps the really “weird” ones and invited me to look through some of the albums. I asked him if he found the TTM request intrusive and he said he was quite honored by it and was just happy to be remembered.

Toward the end of meeting, Ransom asked myself and my assistant if we wanted to pick out some cards and photos from his collection. We went up to his bedroom where he opened a drawer filled with photos, cards, clipping, etc.. from his earliest playing days to recent photofiles. We didn’t want to be greedy so we each took an 8×10 in which my assistant exclaimed, “this means a lot as this is my first autograph!”

Q: What are your baseball autograph interests?

A: Allow me to get anecdotal here for a minute… I mentioned before that my family on both sides are
big fans of baseball. Well, my grandmother once chased Duke Snider down Flatbush Avenue for an
autograph after a Dodgers game. When I was 8 years old, my dad and I started to going to card shows
at the Polish Community Center in Albany, New York.

Duke Snider was scheduled to sign that day and we bought an autograph ticket. At my father’s urging, when it was my turn with Duke, I told him the story of my grandma. Now, I don’t know if he was just obliging and 8 year old or he actually remembered but Duke says “That was your grandma?????”. That autograph has been a centerpiece to my collection to this day. My grandma also worked with Frank Viola’s mom at the Nassau County Jail and she was able to get Frank to send me some autographs which I still have to this day.

I started collecting TTM in 2009 after an extremely long hiatus from card collecting. At first I would just send to whoever was signing but I have since pared down to trying to get every NY Yankee (and not expecting to complete), all Brooklyn Dodgers and as many Negro Leaguers as I can. From a photographer’s standpoint, one of my most highly prized autographs is the 1952 Gus Zernial Topps card with the baseballs “attached” to the bat.

When starting my education in photography over 10 years ago, this was a card I admired as Photoshop had not been invented yet and there were many questions as to how Gus’ photo was made. One card I would like to own one day (but it’s a bit out of my price range) is the 1953 Bowman Color Pee Wee Reese card where he is suspended in air. The composition of the shot, use of artificial lighting and the chrome film makes for an amazing photograph.

Ty Cline
(Dan Xeller photo)

TTM really helped get me interested in this project as, when researching names and addresses, the stories started to come out. Plus, with the acquisition of cards to send out, you would get some neat stories off the back of them. For instance, I photographed Ty Cline (of the 1970 Cincy Reds) and saw that on the back of his 1969 Topps cards that his favorite hobby was photography!! I asked him if that quote had anything to do with his participation in my project and he said “no, it was because you were a nice young man on the phone and I wanted to help!”

Q: Are there other former players you’d like to photograph?

A: I have been fortunate to have photographed Ty Cline, Ransom Jackson and Norman Lumpkin (of the Atlanta Black Crackers). I currently have 3 more people wanting to participate and hope to receive more in my mailbox.

Being based in Charleston, SC, I have been limiting my players to the Georgia/South Carolina/North Carolina areas. I have started to branch out a little bit but since this is funded on my own dime, long distance travel at this time is a hardship. I welcome any and all contacts, hints, notes, favors, inside information, etc… and will return a favor.

Norman Lumpkin
(Dan Xeller Photo)

Q: These are stunning photos of Cline, Jackson and Lumpkin. How could collectors get copies for autographs?

If people are interested in purchasing a photo from me to get signed, they can contact me directly at
danxellerphotography@gmail.com.

Q: Future goals?

A: I would like to make it clear that this project is to shed some light on players of the past and their stories
and to get my name out as a photographer. I’m not in this to make any money and anything that I sell will have partial proceeds going directly to the player or to the Baseball Assistance Team. I hope this interview will get the word spread about my project and get people interested in the former players and their contributions.

Go, Dan, go! Anyone knowing a retired major leaguer or Negro Leaguer in North Carolina, South Carolina or Georgia? E-mail this fledgling historian. Help him out with a lead or introduction. I predict some great portraits and histories as a result.

Dan’s lesson for us? You don’t need Hall of Famers for great baseball stories. History remains in all who played our game. All we need to do is seek out the overlooked diamond storytellers NOW.

(All photos courtesy of and copyright Dan Xeller Photography, www.danxeller.com)

One More Cent Makes Sense For Letters

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While the price of everything is soaring, I’m not going to grumble over the one-cent stamp increase.

USPS employees always do their best for me.

In December, a substitute letter carrier apologized when I came to the door.

“I’m sorry I got your mail here later than usual,” he began.

I waved off his kindness. He was on a strange, new route, yet only minutes behind.

“I went back because Debbie (the postal carrier from THREE Christmases earlier at my OLD address) found this,” he continued.

The forwarding order was long expired. However, Debbie has never stopped looking out for us, seeing that every Christmas card found its target.

I recalled this happy episode as the possibility of moving again looms.

I’ve reviewed response times of many former players on http://www.sportscollectors.net/. Would I be so lucky again in getting misdirected mail?

To increase my chances, I’ve begun noting my parents’ address on the upper left-hand corner of my SASE. That way, if a retiree takes years to respond and I’m not in this current location, the “unable to forward” order can go to a stable address.

Coming Friday: The amazing baseball photography of Dan Xeller.

Bill ‘Spaceman’ Lee Teaches Collectors

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Beware of such impish grins
when asking questions
by mail!

“Stealing your other card.”

— Bill ‘Spaceman’ Lee

In today’s Jeopardy-like post, I’ll quote the memorable report I found on a hobby website. Someone had asked the pitcher in a letter, “What was your biggest thrill?”

Beware of the overused questions. Some savvy signer might say, “Hey. I bet you just did a cut-and-paste from some how-to blog!”

However, here are some tips for asking a perfect question:

1. You can predict what almost anyone would choose for a “greatest thrill” career highlight. Even the greatest journalists ignore the “before” and “after” parts of the equation. How did the bench react AFTER your first-ever HR? how did the coaches react? Who congratulated you first? What did they say?

2. Never forget the feelings of a moment. What did they think? How did they feel?

3. Here’s the most important tip: relate the question to YOU. Ask about a game you attended, saw on TV or listened to. Show you care about the question, not that you’re just fishing for a hand-written reply of any sort.

Frustrated Collectors Forget Valentine’s Day!

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Autograph collectors, have a heart!
Get yours at the zazzle website!

Are you overwhelmed by all the Valentine’s Day cards in stores?

How many cards (if any) will you send? Not give, but send! One for your parents?

Don’t worry, I’m not working for Hallmark. I just wanted the chance to illustrate how overwhelming fan mail might seem every week for the average retired baseball player.

I see the complaints yearly:

1. He switched (or kept) my good card for a poor condition common.
2. He used ballpoint when I wanted Sharpie (or vice versa).
3. He didn’t get my personalization right.
4. He didn’t add the inscription I asked for.

No, it’s not fair, nor fun, to get such a letdown in your envelope. I don’t think it’s on purpose much of the time. In the past year, I’ve posted comments from Bobby Doerr, Carl Erskine and Virgil Trucks telling about getting quantities of mail DAILY.

If you’re paying a fee for the autograph, then you’re purchasing a product. See that you’re getting your money’s worth. However, the service of a free response doesn’t come with a guarantee. Almost all the willing signers have great batting averages, giving collectors what they want. They get my admiration and thanks.

CSI Autograph Edition – Asking Questions?

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“But he didn’t answer any questions…”

I’ve seen more than one collector respond this way. They worked to ask a thoughtful question, but just got an autograph in their reply. Pitcher Dick Woodson was a past example for me.

I’d call this mystery-solving “CCSI” — Collector Crime Scene Investigation.

Most collectors think the former player didn’t want to answer questions.

Or, he wasn’t capable.

Last week, I speculated on cup-of-coffee players who consider their careers riddled with painful memories.

Here’s two other scenarios:

1. The person who responded is too old for a lengthy reply, and considers having someone else take dictation to be wrong. CEOs do it all the time. Nevertheless, many a trustworthy former player wants to send only a completely-authentic response, all from his own hand.

2. The more controversial possibility?

The former player was never a star student. Even in retirement, he’d rather face a 100 m.p.h. fastball than try to write a detailed note with proper grammar and spelling.

I’ve never posted actual scans of my replies for this reason. I’m not here to showcase someone’s misspellings. I’m grateful for substance over style.

The moral? Do your best, but don’t beat yourself up over your specific question.

Coming Tuesday: Pondering more hobby mysteries.