1945(?) signed baseball help

[Ansleys]

Hi Everyone,

I am a newbie at this but I thought that I might get some information on a ball that my grandfather had signed. It has a number of signitures and from the names we think that it was signed in 1945. My grand dad was from the Washington, PA area (just outside of Pittsburgh) and most of the signers were from the Pirates but a couple of them were Cleveland Indians. Granddad ran a mens sporting shop in Cleveland but I am not sure of the time frame of when he moved to Cleveland. The signers are listed here.

Rip Sewell (Truett Banks Sewell) – pitcher with Pittsburg Pirates 1938-49. Sewell was selected four times to the National League All Star team (1943–1946)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip_Sewell

Bob Elliott (Robert Irving Elliott) – played for Pirates 1939-1947. Elliott was named to the NL All-Star team in 1941, 1942, 1944 and 1945.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Elliott_(baseball)

Al Lopez (Alfonso Ramon Lopez) – Over a career which ran until 1947, he played for the Dodgers (1928, 1930-1935), Boston Bees (1936-1940), Pittsburgh Pirates (1940-1946) and Cleveland Indians (1947) and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Lopez

Al Gionfriddo (Albert Francis Gionfriddo) – played outfield for Pirates 1944-47 and he is most famous for his heroic catch of a drive off the bat of the New York Yankee's Joe DiMaggio in Game 6 of the 1947 World Series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gionfriddo

John Barrett ( John Joseph Barrett) – played outfield for the Pirates 1942-46. Regarded as one of the fastest runners in baseball, Barrett led the National League in stolen bases and triples in 1944
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Barrett

Bob Feller (Robert William Andrew Feller) – played for the Cleveland Indians 1936-56. 8-time All-Star (1938–41, 1946–48, 1950) He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Feller

Honus Wagner (Johannes Peter Wagner) – “the flying Dutchman”, played for the Pirates 1897-1917, then served as coach for Pirates for 39 years. He was one of the first five people inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and he received the second highest vote total, behind Ty Cobb and tied with Babe Ruth. Most baseball historians consider him to be the best short stop ever.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honus_Wagner

Tris Speaker (Tristram E. Speaker) – played for the Indians 1916-26, and then was an adviser, coach and scout until his death in 1958. Considered one of the best offensive and defensive center fielders in the history of Major League Baseball, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in its second year of voting, 1937.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tris_Speaker

Frank Frisch (Francis Frisch) – He was named to the NL's first three All-Star teams from 1933-35. Hall of Fame 1947, manager Pirates 1940-46
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Frisch

Fritz Ostermueller (Frederick Raymond Ostermueller)- was a pitcher in major league baseball from 1934-1948, for the Boston Red Sox, Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and St. Louis Browns. He played for the Pirates 1944-48.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Ostermueller

Xavier Rescigno – played for Pirates 1943-45, traded to the Hollywood Stars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Rescigno

Vic Barnhart (Victor Dee Barnhart) – played for Pirates 1944-46
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Barnhart

Spud Davis (Virgil Lawrence Davis) – played for the Pirates 1940-45 and manager 1946
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spud_Davis

Jake Flowers (D’Arcy Raymond Flowers) –coached for Pirates 1940-45
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Flowers

Lloyd Waner (Lloyd James Waner) “Little Poison” played for Pirates 1927-45. He was an All-Star once (1938) and was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Waner

John Lanning (John Young Lanning) – pitcher for Pirates 1940-43, 1945-46
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Lanning

Lee Handley (Lee Elmer Handley) – played for the Pirates 1937-41 & 44-46
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Handley

Bill Salkeld (William Franklin Salkeld) – played for the Pirates 1945-47
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Salkeld

Babe Dahlgren (Ellsworth Tenney Dahlgren) – played for the Pirates 1944-45. In July 1943, he played on the National League All-star team. In 1941, a rumor was circulated in Major League baseball that Dahlgren smoked marijuana. After discovering the existence of the rumor in 1943, Dahlgren became the first Major League Baseball player to take a drug test for a non-performance enhancing drug. He did so voluntarily to discredit the rumors circulating at the time. The tests were all negative, refuting the charges of marijuana use. Dahlgren continued to play at the major league level until 1946, in a playing career which spanned 18 years, including all or part of twelve seasons in the majors. Dahlgren spent decades trying to uncover the source of the rumor.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Dahlgren

Jack Saltzgaver (Otto Hamlin Saltzgaver) - played for the Pirates 1945. At the time he played for the Pirates, Saltzgaver, an infielder, was the oldest active Major League player.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Saltzgaver

Al Gerheauser (Albert Gerheauser) –pitcher played for the Pirates
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gerheauser

Ken Gables (Kenneth Harlin Gables) - pitcher played for the Pirates 1945-47
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Gables

Nick Strincevich (Nicholas Strincevich) - played for the Pirates 1941-48. Strincevich (96) is recognized as one of the oldest living MLB players. As of February 2011, he is considered to be the fifth-oldest living former major league player.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Strincevich

Frank Colman (Frank Lloyd Colman) - played for the Pirates 1942-46 and in 1999, Frank Colman was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Colman

P(reacher). Roe (Elwin Charles Roe) – pitcher played for the Pirates 1944-47. Five time All-Star selection (1945, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preacher_Roe


I would be interested in any observavtions that you may have about the dating of the ball and its possible value.

Thanks

[Scott Garner]

Hi Ansleys,
Welcome to net54! Posting some photos of the actual ball would be helpful. Please make sure to get a closeup of the signatures as well as the trademak on the ball.

Once you do this we can start rendering opinions. I hope this helps!

[Ansleys]

Scott,

Here are the photos of the ball.

[btcarfagno]

I will defer to others with regard to its authenticity. Your ball is very clean and the autographs nice and clear which helps. A Pirate ball fropm this era would normally go for maybe $800-$1,000 with Wagner and in this condition. I would venture that the additional Cleveland members would normally detract somewhat from the value..but with Speaker and Feller included it may actually increase the value a bit. Waner and Frisch are a nice bonus as well. My guess is a value of $1,000-$1,250 if it is genuine. I would not be surprised to see it go higher, however, due to the strong Wagner signature.

Hope that helps, and hope it is authentic. It's a nice piece.

Tom C

[Ansleys]

Tom,

Thanks for the reply. This ball has been in the family for as long as I remember (almost 60 years). How does one authenticate a signed baseball?

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Ansleys

Tom,

Thanks for the reply. This ball has been in the family for as long as I remember (almost 60 years). How does one authenticate a signed baseball?

Ansleys,
Thanks for posting the photos. It's really a great looking ball. It appears that with the exception of Feller, every other signature was signed with the same pen and the condition is fantastic considering its age.

I will not comment on value as I'll let some of net54's experts check in on that. I'm not a huge fan of spending the money for authentication, but JSA (Jim Spence) in NJ could provide the service that you are inquiring about. Prepare to pull your wallet out as JSA is not inexpensive. FWIW, many of the the sigs on your ball look great to me.