About Americana Sports Gallery
Mike McDonald and Max Eveleth co-founded Americana Sports Gallery (ASG) in the late summer of 2003. Mike had enjoyed a long time sports memorabilia collector and dealer career, and Mike had been assisting Max expand his collection of golf memorabilia.
Mike McDonald was an All-New England catcher at Vermont Academy who played American Legion baseball with Carlton Fisk, and was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 1968. Instead of turning professional, Mike elected to attend the University of Hartford where he became an NCAA All-American catcher. Following Mike's graduation from Hartford he played professional baseball with the Springfield Vermont Blue Sox of the Northern League. Mike then became a player and coach in the Hartford Twilight League, an association which endured 20 years and resulted in the league naming Mike as Catcher of the Half-Century. After moving to Maine in 1996 Mike joined the staff of the Wells High School baseball team where he became head coach in 2000. Mike was also Head Baseball Coach for the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine, which competes in the New England Collegiate Baseball Association League during the fall.
Mike began to develop his interest in sports memorabilia and collectibles during 1964 while he was still a high school student and avid baseball fan/player. During high school Mike ran weekly auctions in "Trader Speaks," the then leading publication for the sports memorabilia industry. In 1975, Mike founded The Collector's Dealer, a sports memorabilia trading company which was honored by "Sports Collector Digest" with a 15 Year Outstanding Customer Service Award. In 1988, The Collector's Dealer was merged into Wells Baseball Auctions. Wells Baseball Auctions grew quickly, highlighted by the establishment of a partnership with Challenge's, a chain of sports theme restaurants for which Wells Baseball Auctions designed sports interior decor and acquired sports memorabilia exhibits. Beginning in late 2000, McDonald focused Wells Baseball Auction upon the goal of establishing an eBay presence as Sportshop ("sportshop9dg1.") Sportshop is currently an eBay Turquoise power seller and enjoys a 99.9% positive feedback rating. Both Wells Baseball Auctions and Sportshop were merged into Americana Sports Gallery in 2004.
Following Mike McDonald's untimely passing on December 5, 2005, Max Eveleth and Marc McDonald, Mike's son, carefully evaluated the future of Americana Sports Gallery. The decision was made to continue as an active on-line focused business, however ASG would no longer operate a retail store location. Marc enjoys the experience and insight resulting from watching over his Dad's shoulders for a long time. In his own right, Marc has been an active sports card dealer/trader for ASG and others for a number of years. Max and Marc are fully committed to sustaining the excellent reputation which Mike established and maintained for Americana Sports Gallery.
Visit Americana Sports Gallery's Shop Online section and review the items ASG is currently offering for your consideration.
