A question for those that collect HOF signed baseballs

[hawaiian bam bam]

For those that collect signed baseball by HOFers. three questions please.

1. How many HOF players are "realistically" possible to get signed?

2. Are there a ton of "fake" HOF signed baseballs out there? I heard a rumor that theres a TON out there (particularly with signed baseballs)

3. Do signed baseballs fade over time? i ask this because ive heard so much over the years that baseballs signed in ballpoint pen tend to fade over time. others have said just keep them out of light and dont display them and they will be fine (whats the purpose of collecting if you cant display it!) and if they fade, why do so many people collect them knowing they will eventually fade? will museum quality glass be enough to protect them from fading if displayed? thanks

[39special]

I collect signed baseballs,not just Hall of Famers.
As with any thing signed,there are fakes.You just have to do your homework.
I try to get official mlb balls with blue ink.Black ink and sharpie tend to fade.
I keep them out of direct light.Most are in UV cubes.

[Huck]

1. Currently, there are 69 living hall of famers. At least 8 would be tough to get in person. The 8 being, (1) Bobby Doerr (lives in Oregon some 3 hours from an airport and will be 96 this year. I hear he is a great TTM signer.) (2) Doug Harvey (Umpire so you might not care, did one circuit of autograph shows and I have not seen him since. Umpires are usually great TTM as well. (3) Willie Mays - I hear he still signs in Cooperstown each year for some $350 a pop. I have not seem at a show in a few years. Has trouble seeing so make sure he has the right pen in his hand. (4) Sandy Koufax. Did a Tuff-Stuff show back in the 90's and has been Tuff ever since. He does sign on certain days during spring training. (5) Willie McCovey. Health issues, does not travel much. (6) Yaz. Does one signing a year in MA with Dick Gordon Sports. (7) Tom Seaver. He used to be a regular on the circuit, but have not seen him since his bout with lyme disease. (8) George Brett. Does so few shows, super tough, but not impossible.

2. Yes, especially the bigger names. I would trust Dick Gordon to provide a genuine Yaz autograph. I don't think many Doerr balls are forged, but who knows. My rule, was always see the item signed in person.

3. It depends. I have a signed Bob Horner ball where the signature is just about to fade away but my Mickey Mantle signed ball looks as if it was just signed yesterday. One, I think it depends on the leather that was used to make the ball (I only used official mlb balls). Two, the ink used to sign the ball and how that ink interacts with the leather. Three, pressure used when signing. As big as he is, Gaylord Perry tends to sign very lightly, therefore the ink does not get down into the grain of the leather. Four, handling after the ball is signed, did the signer palm the ball, did you touch the signature after the signing? Five, storage. Yes, a signed ball (or anything else) sitting in direct sunlight will fade, but I have had balls fade sitting in a ball cube in a box in a dark closet.

I have a 153 ball case from Home Plate Heroes (http://www.homeplateheroes.com/Baseball%20Thumbnail.html). The glass they use filters 99% of UV. Museum glass would naturally help, but there is no guarantee. I am convinced that the combination of leather, ink, pressure, hand oils, sweat has far more to do with fading than UV coated glass.

I have close to 200 signed baseballs and if I had my druthers and knew then what I know now, I would opt for another medium to get signatures on. I should have started with the Perez-Steele cards, but at the time the cards did not appeal to me. Thankfully, I usually had hall of famers sign a ball and a picture. Also, since this hobby is a sickness I was fortunate enough to see most of the hall of famers more than once!

Good luck bruddah!

[hawaiian bam bam]

thank you both very much for your help i appreciate it.

you answered all my questions dean! thank you , thats exactly what i was looking for.

dean, may i ask out of curiosity why would you change your medium now? (instead of signed baseballs?

does anyone know exactly how many different HOFers are possible to include both living and deceased? thanks

[Kco]

Hey BamBam,

As a serious and avid Baseball Collector and a former industry professional who's directly worked dozens upon dozens of signings, I have a lot of experience in this area.

Pen type and ball type make a massive difference when it comes to signature quality and longevity, using official league or MLB Baseballs is bar none the best option. Do not use sharpie, do not use black pens, blue ballpoint is the best option. Obviously a sit down or private signing will produce the best, boldest signatures.

As for fraud/fakes, yes there are tons of fakes out there, but for lower tier guys who's autos got for cheap and whose signatures are plentiful and sign regularly its not as much of a concern. Figure that even on a good day, genuine league or MLB Baseballs run $15-20, forging a ball that's worn only $30-50 is a waste. Obviously, a ball which has reputable authenticity from a first person authenticated like Steiner/UDA/Fanatics and the like are a guarantee but cost a lot more.

Most living HOFers can be had pretty easily, even the 8-10 guys who are tough still participate in private signings, with the exceptions being Tom Seaver and Willie Mays, whose haven't signed in public or private in at least 2 years.

Museum and UV cases help, but the keys to stop or eliminate fading over time are keeping it out of direct light, keeping it in a room without big changes in temperature or humidity are also big helpers in terms of longevity.

Hope this helps, if you have interest in some specific players I can help guide you on availability, fakes, frauds etc.

Kevin C.

[hawaiian bam bam]

Hey Kevin,
thank you so much, that helps out tremendously and i appreciate you taking the time to help me with your advice, that is some great info. i never thought about it, but I think the humidity in Hawaii might ruin my baseballs over time as its very humid here. might not be good for baseballs :(

[Huck]

dean, may i ask out of curiosity why would you change your medium now? (instead of signed baseballs?

does anyone know exactly how many different HOFers are possible to include both living and deceased? thanks

Why change now? I am now wiser! Plus, 200 baseballs is not cheap to display the way I want the balls displayed. The 153 ball case cost a few shekels. Also, the signatures of this era of players are horrific. Have a look at Harmon Killebrew's beautiful autograph and then take a gander at Greg Maddux's scribble. Egad. Drop over $150 on a ball for that kaka?

In the early 90's, I ventured over to the autograph side of the hobby when I read in the local paper that Willie Stargell was signing for $9 at a local show. I didn't know much about the autograph side of the hobby, but I did know that single side baseballs were the norm (don't get me started on single signed bats) besides a snow white ball signed on the sweet spot in blue ink is pretty awesome looking! There was also a local shop in most of the malls around here by the name of the Artists Proof (long gone) which sold vintage black and white pictures. I picked up a picture of Pops as well. Back then, I was where you are now, how many living hall of famers and the big three were Mantle, Williams and DiMaggio. I quickly narrowed the 50 plus possible autographs down to half a dozen and then branched out to MVP, CY, ROY award winners and various feats (Vandermeer etc.). I also mistakenly added current players with a lot of buzz so I have snow white balls of JD Drew, Ryan Minor - who asked "You want me to sign on the sweet spot?" - I should have grabbed that ball back quickly. Alas and of course those signatures never fade!

I didn't think the signatures would fade. But signatures do fade. Back then signatures were relatively cheap, but now most guys command a c-note or better. Yesterday, newly hof minted Mike Piazza signed in NJ for $179 a flat and an inscription was another $59. A collecting friend who was at the show, said Piazza's line was strong. So, $15 for the ball another $179 for Piazza to sign the ball and in 10 years it starts to fade? You are going to pull out your hair and spit chiclets! What has not been mentioned here is that signatures also bleed.

I was always looking for one item for hall of famers to sign. I looked long and hard for a picture of the hall with size, but there was just nothing out there. A few years ago, a buddy of mine took a picture of the hall of fame. A buddy of his airbrushed out all of the pedestrians and blew the picture up to something like 20 x 24. It is cool looking so I decided to purchase a copy of the picture. I now have 50 some signatures on the photograph. Once the photograph is full, I will have it framed properly and those signatures will likely not suffer from fading or bleeding.

I would say that signatures of all 312 (not sure if that number includes Griffey and Piazza) hall of famers are possible. There might be only a few signatures of some of the players from the 1800's and some of the former Negro league players and executives might prove difficult.

[hawaiian bam bam]

Hey Dean,
Thanks again for your insight, i appreciate it tremendously. you have been a great help. I see now what you mean about signed baseballs. a signed baseball looks amazing, but your right if its going to fade in 10-12 years why spend hundreds of dollars on them now. I love the look of signed perez steele cards. i cant prove it, but i swear that sharpie fades over time or at least my items just dont look the same years after getting them signed. however i know guys that have had cards signed in sharpie that look perfect 30+ years later! so i must just have really bad luck with fading baseballs a(signed in pen) and cards and photos signed in sharpie. sometimes even the actual photo started to fade(white ends of the photo appear) maybe the seller or original owner used cheap photo paper! LOL either way ive had bad luck with items long term fading. im actually starting to go the way of signed cut signatures like the upper deck sp legendary cuts as those are the only things that havent faded on me (most are signed in pen cuts and checks) but then again i love perez steele cards signed..its a confusing hobby! what to do, what to do!

[Wrightfan85]

1. A ton and usually, it grows every year.

2. Oh yes. It's one of the most forged items out there, especially with guys such as Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth.

3. It can happen. First thing is that you NEVER get a baseball signed in sharpie. It might look good at first but it will fade and smudge over time. Also make sure to keep them out of the sun. I had my Mantle ball in a bad spot for a while and though the auto wasn't affected, the ball has browned in spots.