Help with a few autographs (Ruth, Gehrig, Clemente)

[Jimmy87]

Hey, I'm new to the forum. I have 2 baseballs given to me by my father. Both were bought in Cooperstown in the early 70s. I never got them authenticated because i never thought i would sell them. The names i want to be sure of is Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Roberto Clemente. Please give me your opinions of the signatures and an amount i should expect from these. Thank you.

[Jimmy87]

Lou Gehrig

[Jimmy87]

Roberto Clemente

[Jimmy87]

Roberto Clemente. Sorry they are sideways i don't know how to fix it

[Bpm0014]

Even with the bad picture and the smudging, there is zero chance that the Ruth is real. I'm assuming the same for Gehrig and Clemente but don't know enough about their signatures to opine.

[Duluth Eskimo]

Zero chance seems a bit low. Granted the fading and not the best photos don't help. This is one where you might not get a lot of opinions. I don't see anything in the Gehrig or Clemente that jump out as being bad. Better photos of Ruth and Gehrig might help if they can get better.

[Jimmy87]

Sorry taking pics from my phone

[Jimmy87]

Gehrig

[Jimmy87]

Lou Gehrig

[btcarfagno]

I have a feeling that you are going to need some sort of blacklight to be able to see if the signatures are authentic or not.

If they turn out to be ok, the value is greatly diminished by the obvious condition issues, as well as the fact that there are other signatures on the ball, and it isn't just Ruth and Gehrig together. My ballpark guess, if the Ruth and Gehrig are both good, would be somewhere in the $1,000-$1,500 range. This is because of the extreme condition issues.

I'm not going to venture a guess on the Clemente as I'm not a fan of the signature being his...but I'm not a Clemente expert either.

Tom C

[btcarfagno]

Is that a Mantle beneath the Gehrig? It looks clearer and could help the value of the ball if real...and if it is just signed by Ruth and Gehrig and Mantle only.

Post a better image of the Mantle and you will likely get more responses, at least regarding the Mantle anyway. As I said, the Ruth and Gehrig may be too far gone to authenticate with the naked eye.

Tom C

[David Atkatz]

Both Ruth and Gehrig are good, IMHO.

[Jimmy87]

It has Mantle and Dimaggio. My real concern was Ruth and Gehrig

[Jimmy87]

Dimaggio. The ball with Clemente also has Mantle

[Jimmy87]

Thank you for all the responses. I'm trying to figure out what to do with them. I know trying to authenticate them would be best but don't have money at the moment to do so.

[MikeKam]

Originally Posted by Jimmy87

Thank you for all the responses. I'm trying to figure out what to do with them. I know trying to authenticate them would be best but don't have money at the moment to do so.

If you put them up for auction, you may be able to get them authenticated for free depending on the auction house.

[btcarfagno]

If authentic, a ball with just Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle and DiMaggio would carry a nice premium even if the Ruth and Gehrig aren't very nice. Very few exist.

Tom C