WANTED: Willie Mays to sign my 1960 NL Ball

[mdallen22]

I was told by the promoter this was a card only event and Willie is not doing any other signings in the near future. Since Willie is not doing any signings the promoter put out the offer of $1,000 for the signature and that didn't even guarantee it.

"I'd be open to taking the ball with me to be signed, however, I can't make a promise that it will get autographed as I've been informed that Willie will only sign cards. If interested, I would take the ball and offer Willie $1,000 to sign it. I know the price is steep but at this point Willie is no longer doing any signings, thus the high price."

So my question is - IF you were guaranteed a nice Willie signature just how you wanted it (lets just assume for purposes of this question) what would be your price to pay?

What would be your price to pay if you knew for a fact this was your last chance of getting his signature (I know that seems extreme but im curious what the answers would be). I'm afraid most of the board has spoken and said forget the signature the ball looks fine as it. Does your opinion change if risk of ruining it was taken off the table?

[drcy]

Why people pay in person prices for autographs with a resale market worth 1/20th the price is beyond me. What does a Mays autograph sell for these days? $40?

If the signer is gregarious and you get a snapshot with him I can understand paying a premium for the experience, but otherwise ...

Just my opinion, of course. It's your item and you can do as you wish.

[perezfan]

Agree....

Why would you even consider letting them "hold you hostage" for that obscene amount of money?

Mays' current signature doesn't even resemble the 1960 version. And even if he signed flawlessly (a big "if"), it would stand out like a sore thumb, and subsequently ruin the ball.

You have a very nice vintage piece there. The stamped Mays signature is part of the Ball's heritage, so try to be content with that. There are thousands of other Mays signed items available at a fraction of that outlandish price. So if you must have a modern Mays autograph, try to obtain one without corrupting a great vintage ball or paying 20 times what it is worth.

[T20Brew]

Mike,
I'll echo what others have said here in I wouldn't do it.
I had a similar situation, although with a newer ball and not a player of Mays' caliber. I had purchased a Brewers team ball and noticed that a member of the current Brewers team at the time (late 90's) was a rookie during the time that the ball I just purchased was from. I had him sign it and tried to match the color of the original ball as much as I could. I wish I hadn't. It didn't look like the other signatures on the ball and stood out. My eyes are drawn to it each time I look at it and regret it.
Eric

[7nohitter]

I get that Mays is ornery (a prick) but why does it make him happy to purposely destroy an item?

Has anyone here ever called him on it?

[packs]

You can regularly pick up Mays baseballs on eBay for either just under or just over $100.

I say, hey, Willie that's ok.

[Duluth Eskimo]

I vote to go for it. Please post the after photos once it is complete. $1000 is totally worth it. Go for it!

[mdallen22]

I'd like to play devils advocate - This may not be comparing apples to apples with the caliber of players I'm going to mention among other key factors, but if you had a 1927 team signed Yankee ball but it was missing Ruths' signature, and you had the opportunity to get his signature some 20 years later, would you pursue it? I can already anticipate the comments seeking out a Ruth auto to a Mays auto and I don't want to compare the names, eras, supply of signatures in the market place etc but rather, if you have a chance to "complete" a team ball with arguably the best player of that team wouldn't you? Just playing devils advocate so be easy

I'm not paying $1,000 for a Mays signature and I agree with the majority of the boards comments. I'd happily display an original vintage Mays auto next to this piece before paying a large sum of money and risk damage. But the idea of having a newer signature on a vintage piece doesn't bother me personally. If the new autograph was say Dick Groat (sorry Dick i'm a Buccos fan I promise) instead of Willie Mays i'd be content. But when the player missing is a key player i'd pursue it, as I did. I'd pursue Musial too if it were possible rip.

[bender07]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Agree....

Why would you even consider letting them "hold you hostage" for that obscene amount of money?

Mays' current signature doesn't even resemble the 1960 version. And even if he signed flawlessly (a big "if"), it would stand out like a sore thumb, and subsequently ruin the ball.

You have a very nice vintage piece there. The stamped Mays signature is part of the Ball's heritage, so try to be content with that. There are thousands of other Mays signed items available at a fraction of that outlandish price. So if you must have a modern Mays autograph, try to obtain one without corrupting a great vintage ball or paying 20 times what it is worth.

Nailed it. The signature would look totally out of place and he would unquestionably ruin it. I was in line for Mays once and a guy had a multi-signed bat that he wrapped up in packaging paper with just a small part of the bat exposed for Mays' signature. This was 15 years ago so his eye sight was okay. Imagine all of that effort to pay someone hundreds of dollars.

Let the ball be.