Highlands High grad Chris Kidney runs a business reselling clothes and vintage items online. His business was doing okay, but he experienced quite a significant slump this past winter. It was one that made him consider getting out of the business, he said, but he decided to give it one last shot. He had recently moved from Newport to Morehead and decided to try some estate sales and visit some thrift stores in his new town.
He also had been expanding his business, looking at new areas for thrifting. At an estate sale, he bought a few books and did well enough with them that he wanted to be sure to check out books wherever he went. One day, he and a friend went to a nearby Goodwill—a routine trip that became anything but routine.
“I go there about four times a week, and I would go multiple times a day because they would always be putting out new items. And so on that particular day, it was the fourth time going there that day, and I thought, ‘I forgot, I didn’t check any of the books,” he said.
While his friend looked through the shirts, Kidney went to peruse the books.
The find
“I look for signatures. I look for first editions, and I’ve been very successful finding books there,” he said.
Then, he found it. A baseball fan, he pulled a dusty old book about the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates off the shelf. Inside, it was signed by none other than Honus Wagner, also known as the Flying Dutchman. The shortstop, who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1899 to 1917, was among the first group of players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Some of his very rare sports cards have sold in recent years for $6 to $7 million dollars.
“I grabbed my friend and made him walk back to the books with me. I said ‘what are the odds this is gonna be something crazy?’It’s almost like something out of a movie,” Kidney said. “So, I opened up the book, and I see the signature. The very next thing I did was I looked at the copyright page so I could age the book. And the fact that it was 1948, which was seven years prior to Honus Wagner’s death, got me really excited.”
He bought the book, “The Pittsburgh Pirates” by Frederick G. Lieb, for $1.59 and took it around to eight baseball card shops. At each one, he was advised to get it authenticated — and, at each one, he was also offered cash for the card on the spot. He said that’s when he knew he had what he thought it had.
A baseball family
To back up a bit, it was lucky that Kidney, whose family has been involved in baseball in a number of ways, would be the one to find the book. Many people would not have had any idea what they had. Some would call it serendipity, others, perhaps something more.
“My grandpa’s name was James Kidney. He passed in 2022, and he was my absolute best friend,” Kidney said. “He had a law office at 40 East Tenth Street in Newport. Whenever I was with him, he would always have some crazy sports story from when he did work for Marge Schott, the former owner of the Reds.”
His grandpa had worked on issues for some of the other players and was always fond of talking about the Reds and baseball, sharing stories with his grandson and anyone who would listen. Kidney’s uncle served as a bat boy for the Reds from 1985 to 1989, and so baseball was a common topic within the family.
Kidney’s grandpa even kept a baseball card on his desk as a conversation starter —a reproduction Honus Wagner card. Another family member, Steve Coletti, is an antique dealer, and he broke the news to James Kidney that his Wagner card was not authentic.
His grandpa didn’t care, Kidney said, because it served its purpose of getting the baseball conversation started. One day, however, his grandpa showed it to the wrong person, who believed the card to be valuable. That night thieves broke into the law office, stole the card, and were caught trying to sell it on Ebay.
“I believe there’s some divine intervention here,” said Kidney. “Maybe my grandpa was looking out for me. I go to Goodwill, and I find a book, and I find an authentic Honus Wagner signature. This could be me grasping for straws, trying to find any order in the world, but it is just so cool that with my connection with my grandpa, who I talked about sports with daily for 23 years of my life. I find this once-in-a-lifetime book. This doesn’t happen every day.”
Humbling experience
Kidney was offered in the tens of thousands for the Honus Wagner autographed book, he said. He ended up working with a company his wife’s family recommended, and he could not reveal much of the deal. He could say that the company agreed to absorb the risk of paying for authentication. The signature has since been authenticated.
Since sharing his finding online, Kidney has been approached by sports media, national news outlets, and radio stations in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.
Kidney said it’s been a humbling experience. He wanted to take his moment in the limelight to thank his family, especially his wife Ashley and their daughter Paisley, for supporting him in his unconventional business.
He wanted to also credit his mentor and friend from high school.
“I really want to attribute all of my success to my mentor and best friend Brad Hanneken of bradsVTG,” Kidney said. “He really taught me how to look for older items, how to check for fakes. I wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for him, being so gracious and teaching me. I really owe him a debt of gratitude.”
He also credited his Highlands High history teacher Michael Hils and Newport’s City Manager John Hayden for talking sports with him and encouraging him to pursue his dreams.