Opinions on a 1922 CHARLIE ROBERTSON PERFECT GAME ACTUAL GAME USED BASEBALL

[GrayGhost]

Originally Posted by mr2686

Ok, first off I am not even close to a game used/equipment used expert and I had either never heard of tony cocchi or just forgot about him. Anyway, it took all of 30 seconds on the internet to dig up some disturbing stories about him and bogus memorabilia. Now, does that mean it's true, well no, not necessarily, but it raises that damn red flag enough to start looking a bit deeper. First off, there have been many stories over the years about some piece of memorabilia or another that was given to a bar owner near a stadium. Most of the stories are true, it's just whether or not the piece of memorabilia that's being sold was actually THAT piece of memorabilia. There are quite a few newspaper stories about Mccuddy's (which closed in 1988) and even a Youtube video with the owner/decendent. I only looked at a handful, hoping there was a mention of your ball, but I didn't find any...you may want to do a more thorough look. My main concern about Mr. Cocchi's story, is the time frame when he purchased it. I find it hard to believe the bar would sell off stuff in the 70's, but it's always possible. Bars like that are an institution and the photos and memorabilia are a huge drawing card. Again, more legwork would be in order.
Bottom line is, you may be able to find some evidence with some hard work, but you may hit a dead end.

+1 and regardless this one may have a big leap of faith

[Scott Garner]

Disclaimer:
I actually was an under bidder on this ball when it sold on eBay a few months ago.

To purchase it certainly does require a substantial leap of faith, as other's have already mentioned. The eBay seller is someone that I personally know well as being reputable having dealt with him for perhaps 20-25 years (even prior to the internet).
He apparently purchased the ball directly from the collector that you mentioned that I don't claim to know at all, nor did I know as the named collector when I was bidding on the ball.
The eBay seller and I exchanged several e-mails discussing the ball. Although there were several question marks about the ball, my biggest concern at the time was that the inscription on the ball itself had virtually disappeared over time making it a real challenge to ever authenticate 100%. With artifacts this old, it's not unique in this respect...

If you were the winning bidder, you have to rely on your gut as to it's authenticity. If the ball had stronger provenance you know that it quite certainly would have sold for thousands more than what you paid for it.
The ball itself is certainly correct for the time period in which Charlie Robertson hurled his perfect game in 1922, but this in of itself doesn't make it a game ball from this game.

Trivia fact: Charlie Robertson's masterpiece was the first game that the press ever used the term "perfect game".
In my personal collection I own all of the attached items with the exception of the scored program to Charlie Robertson's perfecto which sold on eBay a number of years ago.

[CJDave]

Thank you for the feedback Scott. You are all correct, it is/was a leap of faith. But as they say, If you want big rewards, you gotta take big risks.

I think it was worth the chance, it has a good back story and who knows, I could be in possession of a one of a kind piece of baseball history.

I will actually be selling off all of my Blacksox memorabilia in the next week or two. Baseball cards, autographs, tickets, programs, etc.

I would love to find a Charlie Robertson autographed baseball.....I can find his autographed index card all day long, but the signed baseball has eluded me.

Thank you again for all the feedback.

Dave.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by CJDave

Thank you for the feedback Scott. You are all correct, it is/was a leap of faith. But as they say, If you want big rewards, you gotta take big risks.

I think it was worth the chance, it has a good back story and who knows, I could be in possession of a one of a kind piece of baseball history.

I will actually be selling off all of my Blacksox memorabilia in the next week or two. Baseball cards, autographs, tickets, programs, etc.

I would love to find a Charlie Robertson autographed baseball.....I can find his autographed index card all day long, but the signed baseball has eluded me.

Thank you again for all the feedback.

Dave.

Hi Dave,
You are certainly welcome.
FYI, I have seen 1 or 2 Charlie Robertson baseballs in the past make their way into the hobby, but it has been a number of years now.
Did you know that Charlie Robertson only would sign 3 x 5 index cards 1 day per year; the anniversary of his perfect game on April 30th?
It seems to me that OP on net 54 have use black light (or another type of light) to be able to read old writing on balls that have become illegible. You may want to try that with your ball in order to possibly gain more insight as to any remaining ink and what it says.
Perhaps others could chime in as how to do this?

[CJDave]

I will definitely try that black light option. It definitely worth a shot. Thanks again.

[drcy]

You'd use infrared rather than blacklight to try and read any faded inscription. Infrared is what they use to read those ancient documents such as the Dead Sea Scrolls. If you could, you could get someone like John Reznikoff to inspect it, as he might have the machinery to see any writing.

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by drcy

You'd use infrared rather than blacklight to try and read any faded inscription. Infrared is what they use to read those ancient documents such as the Dead Sea Scrolls. If you could, you could get someone like John Reznikoff to inspect it, as he might have the machinery to see any writing.

Or, put some there himself if he doesn't see any.