Thoughts on this Ted Williams Ball

[greenmonster66]

What do you all think of this Ted Williams signed ball?

[Steve D]

It looks bad to me.

Steve

[jimjim]

No good

[greenmonster66]

Thanks guys, kind of thought so myself! But you never know!

[shelly]

I say this over and over. If it has an open d or a it is probably not good

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by shelly

I say this over and over. If it has an open d or a it is probably not good

Yoda has spoken

[Stampsfan]

Originally Posted by shelly

I say this over and over. If it has an open d or a it is probably not good

Can you please explain what you would look for? I am in the market for one, and have really not looked past the UDA stuff he signed.

I randomly pulled one off eBay for compare:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/UDA-TED-WILL...sAAOSwlY1ZMyW-

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by shelly

I say this over and over. If it has an open d or a it is probably not good

As a matter of fact, Ted used to say this over and over while signing.

"Gotta close the d, gotta close the a."

[RichardSimon]

Right here.

[Stampsfan]

Thanks to all. So for me to summarize...

On the ball in OP, the "A" is closed at the top, but the "D" is not.

On the randomly selected UDA ball I linked to, both the "A" and the "D" are closed at the top.

Thanks to all for the clarity... and patience explaining to me.

Now, if any of you experts have a good single sig for sale, I'm interested... PM me.

Thanks
Bob

[Steve D]

Bob, I just now looked at the UDA ball you linked to, and personally, I would stay away from it. It may be completely legit, but it is an "ugly" signature. if real, it's a late-in-life signature. You can find far better looking real Williams signed baseballs.

The nicest thing about Ted's signature is that it stayed very consistent and legible throughout his life, only deteriorating very late/close to his death. He is one, like Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio, who always took pride in his signature, and took the time to give everyone a nice readable autograph.

Steve

[Stampsfan]

I never knew that Williams made an effort to provide a clean signature. Until you mentioned the "later in life" possibility, I had not thought of that possibility.

I hear you on the ugliness, and while the price is good for a Williams UDA SS ball, I have not made the leap for that reason... it would not display as well as I am hoping.

Steve... Thanks again for your patience and time in helping a collector out. Much appreciated.

Bob

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Just curious, not an autograph expert, but not a neophyte either. I don't recall ever seeing Williams connect his first and last name like he does on the ball in the OP. Is that something he did?