Babe Ruth Autographed Baseball Thoughts

[w7imel]

There was a ball similar to yours on ebay that had a great story. Babe was traveling and at a stop he tried to get Ruths auto and his personal manager grabed the ball and signed it like yours. The guy told him he wanted babe to sign it and he told him "unless your a kid or have a skirt this is the only babe ruth autograph your getting." So this ball could be same senario.

[shelly]

Sorry

[niembre]

How much would a ball like this even be worth? I doubt I would sell it, since it's been in the family so long.

[RichardSimon]

It would be worth more then it is worth if it did not have that awful forgery on it.

[thetruthisoutthere]

Interesting story.

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by thetruthisoutthere

Interesting story.

+1
Yes verrrrry interesting, to say the least.
The signature on that ball does not resemble any ghost signed Ruth sig.

[niembre]

I had my wife's grandmother email me the story because she is now in her mid 80's and he passed away in the 80's. The ball had been in a ball holder sitting in their hallway all these years. Here is what she emailed me about the story behind the ball:

The Evans' were all big sports fans especially baseball, Bills' uncles included. Sundays were spent listening then later watching games. Findlay was close enough to Cleveland, Cincinnati- to drive to . They also saw many games in St. Louis, Jane had an Aunt and Uncle There. Because of Genes' Job as Traffic Manager for Ohio Oil, they received many comped tickets, box seats no less.

At one of the Cleveland games the President of the Nickel Plate Railroad ( I am not sure for this--could have been another RR) asked them to his home for dinner after the game.

He was also a huge sports fan and his den was filled with much memorabilia.

As the evening drew to a close He was so impressed with Bills' knowledge of baseball and sports in general , he told him he could choose anything he wanted from his collection--of course the babe Ruth ball was chosen--this was probably around 1936 so Bill would have been about 12.

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by w7imel

There was a ball similar to yours on ebay that had a great story. Babe was traveling and at a stop he tried to get Ruths auto and his personal manager grabed the ball and signed it like yours. The guy told him he wanted babe to sign it and he told him "unless your a kid or have a skirt this is the only babe ruth autograph your getting." So this ball could be same senario.

Bullshit.

[Mr. Zipper]

Did anyone have a huge memorabilia collection in the 1930s? Even a railroad baron?

"Comped" seems like an unusual word choice for someone in heir mid-80s.

[niembre]

She was just telling the story, probably what was told to her by my Wife's grandfather. She also found a program from the 1940 all star game in Saint Louis (signed by comedic actor Joe E Brown), a scorecard from the 1937 Saint Louis Cardinals, signed by the majority of the team (notables are Johnny Mize, Joe Medwick, and Frank Frisch), and a 1938 scorecard between the Indians and St. Louis Browns with several signatures of the Indians. Most notably Bob Feller (who pitched and got the win that day.
Here are some pictures.

[RichardSimon]

Pinocchio is lurking somewhere in this story.

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

Did anyone have a huge memorabilia collection in the 1930s? Even a railroad baron?

"Comped" seems like an unusual word choice for someone in heir mid-80s.

For certain.

[w7imel]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

Bullshit.

Dave all I was passing along was a story that I saw for an auction that was on ebay. The guy who bought the ball from a older guy said that was how he came accross his "ghost signed". Dont know if true or not just the story that was told. Wasnt there to witness

[keithsky]

Damn you guys. This guy says he is new to the forum and just was asking questions. What is everyone ripping him for? I don't know him but no need to treat him like crap for his first question. No wonder people get pissed and leave on here. Wow

[w7imel]

++++++++++1

[Duluth Eskimo]

That's because the only way some people can make themselves feel good is to put others down. I don't think the OP ever argued against the opinion that the signature is bad, he's just asking non advanced collector questions.

[Bestdj777]

Given the vast number of fake autos, I think everyone is just concerned when someone new to the forum shows a potentially high value auto and tells a grandfather story. The auto isn't really which makes people question the story.

As for the value of it now, I second the recommendation that you post on the memorabilia side. Older balls have some value, but it's not clear what effect the signature has on the value given it is not real. There is an off chance the ball was not a malicious forgery but is a secretarial that was given out as part of a promotion of some kind and it still has some value (I have no info/knowledge that would support this idea but just saying there are some unknowns). It's also possible that the signature could be removed. Again, no idea.

My recommendation is that you put it on your shelf and enjoy it and the memories it invokes.

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by keithsky

This guy says he is new to the forum and just was asking questions.

Here is a scenario I've seen played out a hundred times on various message boards... maybe it applies to this situation or maybe it doesn't...

A newbie shows up with a "it's been in my family forever" story and "what's it worth?" Meanwhile, to sharp-eyed collectors, the item appears to be a fake of recent vintage.

Why would someone do this? They want to get offline offers and ideally sell the item quickly and privately to another member who hopes to lowball the newbie. A con conning a con.

Maybe that is not the case here. Maybe some folks are too jaded and skeptical. Maybe this has been in his family for 60 years.

But it doesn't appear to be authentic or look like known Ruth period secretarials. So that leaves two possibilities: a forgery of this quality was produced a long time ago or the story is not true.

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

Here is a scenario I've seen played out a hundred times on various message boards... maybe it applies to this situation or maybe it doesn't...

A newbie shows up with a "it's been in my family forever" story and "what's it worth?" Meanwhile, to sharp-eyed collectors, the item appears to be a fake of recent vintage.

Why would someone do this? They want to get offline offers and ideally sell the item quickly and privately to another member who hopes to lowball the newbie. A con conning a con.

Maybe that is not the case here. Maybe some folks are too jaded and skeptical. Maybe this has been in his family for 60 years.

But it doesn't appear to be authentic or look like known Ruth period secretarials. So that leaves two possibilities: a forgery of this quality was produced a long time ago or the story is not true.

+1