Posted By:
runscottI have two balls signed in the early '70s. One was a high-quality ball that I had signed using two different ball point pens, by the Phillies and Giants, less than two years apart. It's tough to tell without seeing the actual ball, but the purple signatures have had slight bleeding since shortly after getting it signed, but the bleeding stopped. The blue signatures are crisp and look as nice as the day I got it signed.
I also have a cheap ball I got signed by the Reds in '73. The signatures on one strip of leather are mint, the signatures on the other strip have almost all faded to nothing.
So...based on my 30-yr unintentional experiment, at least two factors come into play: 1) quality of baseball leather and 2) type of ink used.
I guess it does come down mainly to praying - Johnny Bench has faded to nothing, but Tony Perez lives on.
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