Ruth ball...is it real?
 

A friend of mine showed me this and it does not look good to me what do you guys think ?

I'm far from an autograph expert but the ink looks like it's aged much less than the ball. I would guess it's not real.

Babe Ruth, and the Yanks, did not play in the '30 World Series.

Absolutely!

Agreed!

Likely a CC special.

Tom C

Now I'm NOT saying this ball is legit - but Ruth (and a few other stars) were present and worked in some capacity as guest commentators/writers on the World Series even when they didn't play in it. Ruth's agent Christy Walsh would have The Babe give his opinion on the games and they would be re-written by ghost writers and syndicated across the country. Whether the ball is real or not I don't know but you can't discount it soley on the 1930 date.

Ruth was like the Bob Feller of his day. Authentic autographs can show up on just about anything. In that respect, he is a good forger's dream. Some times he just shows up on team signed balls from a different team of the era. A 1932 Tigers ball with 23 Tigers signatures.....and the Babe!

Tom C

I personally would not buy any ruth sig no matter what without auth.

That aside this throws fantasy flags -

The ink has not oxidized at all.

The damage to that ball is just way too white. It's not even aged a bit.

I could totally buy a kid in the 30's taking a signed ball out to the park for the day, or the ball being used prior to signing. But other than a rogue dog stealing from your collection, how does a signed ruth ball from the 30's get damage that white?

My doubts are high.

Coaches corner crap

thanks for everyone's input...this is a friends uncles ball...who is a gold/silver/estate sale guy. i told her when I saw it it looked bad but I wanted 2nd opinions...thanks guys!

"gold/silver/estate sale guy" LOL and a Fake Ruth ball guy. Makes me feel warm a fuzzy to buy my gold and silver from a clown like this who thinks this "might" be real. A legal MORON can tell it's not, hence my o:)pinion

Someday I'll have to put together a "real or fake treasure or Junk" Quiz involving several hobbies and see who fails...........

Someone who knows one thing well enough to make a living at it might not know another field at all. Heck, even full time dealers in one hobby don't know about or notice some stuff within their own field.

Steve B

totally agree guys.

I'm not an autograph guy, but the first thing I noticed is the width of the signature marks. To my knowledge, and correct me if I'm wrong, but they didn't have any writing utensils that had that kind of width. Almost looks like the width of a felt tip marker.

Rob M.

Actually, you are wrong. Fountain pen nibs were available in all kinds of widths--from very fine to very wide.

But wouldn't that typically only be used by a person doing calligraphy versus somebody signing a ball?

No. I'm not talking about calligraphy pens--which are dip pens. Fountain pens for "normal" writing were available with a wide choice of nib widths and styles. (As they still are, today.)

when I saw your response, I thought you were going to chime in it was real:) whew:D

Maybe so David but that almost looks like a Sharpie. I thought when I first saw the ball it was a joke . How can a ball look so worn but the signature look so bold?

I'm not talking about this baseball. I'm talking about fountain pens. Some make fine lines. Some make broad lines. That's all.