Ruth Ball Opinions
 

I'm posting this for a friend. Opinions welcome. He sent larger images if needed.

NOT an authentic Ruth... very nice ball though! Sorry....

I'll edit to elaborate a bit, and perhaps some others can do the same...

The letters appear very slowly formed and deliberately drawn.
The small "b" in Babe is too wide open at the base
The "e" in Babe is too flat at the top
The "R" in Ruth is way too open
The "u" in Ruth is way too wide and deliberately drawn
The slant and flow of the entire signature is all wrong

Too bad, because this nice-conditioned Harridge Ball would have been a desirable collectible in its own right. Can the collector reveal where he purchased this piece, so as to help others in the future? If it was purchased 8 - 10 years ago, that would have been around the peak of the autograph market for forgeries. Also... was the ball acquired with any LOA or certificate? That alone can reveal quite a lot. Thanks in advance for any additional info you can provide!

Yeah, that doesn't look good, I concur. Where did he get it? I hope not from Coach's Commode.

Could that be a stamped signed ball, like the souvenir balls from the 1960's on.

It's not stamped...
 

...just forged.

Guys - thanks for your help. He bought it 10 or 11 years ago from a local seller (Cleveland area).