Laminated Baseballs?

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Posted By: Ed McCollum

My first post on the board...sorry it's not about vintage cards, but...
my son and I attended the Bob Gibson Celebrity Golf Classic this weekend in Omaha, and went with the intention of getting as many autographs as possible on a couple MLB balls. But we got a lecture from Steve Carlton, followed by about eight others, who told us we should never get an autograph on a ball with a Sharpie, as it will bleed and fade out. Finally, one of the players said to get it laminated after all the autographs, and that would seal it up and prevent the fading and bleeding from happening. Laminate a baseball? Can that be done? Surely you don't get that done at a school supply or copy center. anybody here have any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Ed

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Posted By: Jiame Leiderman

According to Mark Allen Baker in his book: "Team Baseballs, A Comprehensive Guido to Autographed Baseballs", tests conducted on Official League baseballs using "Sharpie" markers have shown major surface bleeding twice the thickness of the signature in less than five years.

If shellacked, the surface will tend to chip resulting in permanent damage.

My advice is to store the baseball in a "Ball Cube" and pray...

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Posted By: runscott

I 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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Posted By: David

As the proud owner of 8,000 autographs, I can say that balls are much trickier than paper items. On a non-glossy paper item fading seems much less of a problem, and a variety of pens work well, whether it's a felt tip or ballpoint. Sharipes do seem to bleed/fade (change color) on paper as well. Ballpoint pends seem to do very well on balls or peper, though the writing is not as bold as with a sharpie. On colorful, large or darker items, like a poster or trading card, ballpionts are often to thin and timid to standout, and a sharie might be best despite its problems.