01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, October 9, 2005

A collection of things collectors should know:

BIG PAPI ART: The powerful bat swung by David Ortiz has become the stuff of which legends are made. Big Papi's clutch hitting carried the Boston Red Sox to a World Series championship last year and into the playoffs this season.

How do you preserve such a legend? The studios of Connecticut-based Bill Goff, Inc., has found a way through the talented artwork of Graig Kreindler, whose painting, "Curse Is Foiled," has been turned into limited-edition offset lithographs. Kreindler is new to the Bill Goff studio, which since 1977 has included talented artists such as Andy Jurinko, William Feldman and Bill Williams. While Kreindler is new to Goff, his work is well known to baseball fans and collectors, especially his portrayals of Ebbets Field in "The Taj Mahal of Brooklyn" and Lou Gehrig's dramatic farewell to the game.

The "Curse Is Foiled" preserves Ortiz's home run on Oct., 18, 2004, at precisely at 1:22 a.m., 5 hours and 2 minutes after Game Four of the American League Championship Series had begun at Fenway Park.

Here's the scene:

It's the bottom of the 12th inning, the score is tied 4-4 with the Red Sox on the brink of elimination. Boston's Manny Ramirez, who singled, is on first. Umpire Jim Joyce is calling balls and strikes behind Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. And New York's Paul Quantrill has thrown a 2-1 pitch that Ortiz slams into the bullpen in right field.

The Red Sox won, 6-4, on on Ortiz's walkoff homer, which started the Sox on the eight-game win streak that earned the team its first World Championship in 86 years and broke the so-called "Curse of the Bambino."

It had been that long since the "Bambino," Babe Ruth, was sold from Boston to New York and an agonizing hex overshadowed anything else the Boston ballclub could accomplish. Kreindler's lithographs measure 18 inches by 33 inches and are limited to 600 copies (plus 60 not-for-sale artist proofs). The cost is $140 per lithograph. For information, call (800) 321-4633 or go to the www.goodsportsart.com Web site.

MONBO SIGNING: Bill Monbouquette was the pitching ace of the Red Sox teams of the early '60s, a right-handed workhorse who was named to four All-Star teams. Next Sunday, Monbouquette will be signing autographs at a Downtown Sports Card Shop show in Taunton, Mass. He'll be at the autograph table ($10 per signature) from 1 to 3 p.m. The show opens at 9 a.m. at the American Legion Post (7 Cedar St.).

A native of Medford, Mass., Monbouquette pitched 11 big-league seasons, 8 with the Red Sox. He relied on control and changing speeds. In 1961, he struck out 17 batters, then a team record and the most ever by an American League pitcher in a night game. He pitched a no-hitter in 1962 to beat Hall of Famer Early Wynn and the White Sox, 1-0, and had a second no-hit bid broken up by a sixth-inning homer two years later.

After the 1965 season, Boston traded him to Detroit. He also pitched briefly for the Yankees and Giants.

For information, call Joel Andrade at (508) 822-7719 or go to the www.downtownsportscardshop.com Web site.

DEDHAM SHOW: Raphael Gumares has his monthly sports collectors show today from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Holiday Inn in Dedham, Mass.

COLUMBUS DAY SHOW: Douglas Keating and his Cardboard Promotions will celebrate the Columbus Day holiday tomorrow with a sports card show at the Mansfield, Mass., Holiday Inn. Show times are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will offer free Red Sox posters, Patriots T-shirts and mugs, and candy as an early Halloween treat. For information, call Keating at (508) 369-2471 or go to the www.cardboardpromotions.com Web site.

SWANSEA MALL SHOW: The Swansea Mall will be the site of a three-day sports collectors show Friday through next Sunday. David Petrone said the show will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. next Sunday.

For information, call Petrone at (508) 658-7109.

SEEKONK SHOW: Mike and Dan Souto's monthly sports card show is next Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ramada Inn in Seekonk. Dealers will be offering new and vintage cards and memorabilia from all the major sports, die-casts, hobby supplies and Beckett price guides. For information, call (508) 431-0559.

THE BATBOY'S COLLECTION: The Bert Padell Collection is being sold this month during an ongoing online auction conducted by Geppi's Memorabilia Road show. Padell was a New York Yankees batboy during the 1949 and '50 seasons and later became a financial consultant to sports and entertainment stars.

Also up for sale will be the Weston Boxing Collection, compiled by Stanley Weston, who was associated with Nat Fleischer and The Ring magazine.

Among auction highlights are the Jack Johnson "confession letter," which explains his fix of the Jess Willard bout; a full set of 1935 Yankees player contracts, including Gehrig's; Roberto Clemente's first pro contract; a letter from Gen. George Armstrong Custer revealing his intention to wage a "war of extermination" against everyone in the South with rebel blood; a restaurant menu signed by Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe; the bustier worn by Madonna; a jump suit worn by Britney Spears on tour; and game-used bats from Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Michael Jordan during his brief minor-league career.

Bidding continues on the www.geppismemorabiliaroadshow.com Web site on the Weston boxing items to Oct. 25 and on the Padell artifacts in two segments, Oct. 26 and 27. For information, call (877) 762-3749.

Arnold Bailey, an avid collector himself, invites readers to write him c/o the Providence Journal Sports Department, 75 Fountain St., Providence, R.I. 02902. If information is being sought to identify specific cards or other collectibles, do not send the cards or artifacts. A photocopy or sketch of both sides of cards, or a photocopy or sketch of the artifact will usually be sufficient for identification.