"Living" Hall of Fame Autograph Baseball

[Bos8]

Hey Everyone,
Back in approximately 1999, my father was at an event at the White House were almost all of the living hall of fame members were present. He managed to get a baseball autographed by a majority of the players that were at the event.

Not necessarily looking to sell at this time, but if he were to look into selling it, any ideas at what sort of ball park he'd be looking at? Of course he is 100% sure of its authenticity, but is it worth getting authenticated if selling is the route he wants to take?

Autographs include (If I missed any, let me know)

Sandy Koufax
Joe Morgan
Johnny Bench
Brooks Robinson
Ernie Banks
Whitey Ford
Carl Yastrzemski (My Father's favorite player growing up, so he got his signature on the sweet spot)
Bob Gibson
Mike Schmidt
Hank Aaron
Stan Musial
Yogi Berra
George Brett
Tom Seaver (Thanks Bigdaddy!)

[ocjack]

I can't offer an estimate. But I have found multi-signed items to not be worth the value of the individual signatures. This wouldn't apply to a team ball necessarily. Others, more qualified will chime in.

Also, no Clinton on the ball? Is your dad a Republican? lol

[Bos8]

Originally Posted by ocjack

I can't offer an estimate. But I have found multi-signed items to not be worth the value of the individual signatures. This wouldn't apply to a team ball necessarily. Others, more qualified will chime in.

Also, no Clinton on the ball? Is your dad a Republican? lol

Hahaha not quite. He was actually worked for the Secret Service, so I don't know if he was able to get it signed then. I do have a very nice George W Bush autographed baseball, but again, don't look too much into it!

[Bigdaddy]

That is Tom Seaver in the blue ink above Ernie Banks.

Very nice ball and all those signatures look spot on. I'm sure your dad had a great time meeting all those players.

Not sure of a value, but I'd put it somewhere around $400-$500, maybe a bit more.

[ocjack]

Originally Posted by Bos8

Hahaha not quite. He was actually worked for the Secret Service, so I don't know if he was able to get it signed then. I do have a very nice George W Bush autographed baseball, but again, don't look too much into it!

On a serious note, please thank your father for his service to our country.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Themed balls do better than just conglomerates of signatures. If there was anything tying the ball to the White House that would be fantastic. As it is, I would have your dad write a letter explaining the history of the ball and get it notarized IN ADDITION to getting it authenticated if you ever plan on selling it. The letter from a Secret Service Agent (I assume he wasn't on duty at the event) would serve as pretty good provenance for the story and should help add some value. It would've been nice to have the President on the ball as well to add to that story.

[Bos8]

Thank you everyone for the replies!

Big Daddy- Appreciate you pointing out the Seaver. I think I had him incorrectly labeled, and have adjusted the original list.

OC- I will let him know. He retired back in 2004, and is in the process of downsizing. Definitely a great memory for him.

Acquarian- Thanks for the advice! So it seems it would be finically prudent to get the ball authenticated if he were to sell it. Would that be expensive? I have a small collection of vintage cards, but I am by no means an autograph expert, and it's not like he's traveling around to trade shows.

He may be slightly off on the date. He does have a signed George Bush baseball as well, which may be from the same event. I've included a photograph of that ball below.

[Steve D]

The two times I found, where the baseball hall of famers were at the white house, were in March of 2001, and March of 2004, both while George W. Bush was president.

https://www.upi.com/News_Photos/view...e-White-House/

https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archi...0040331-2.html

Steve

[Lordstan]

As a collector of many multi-signed items, I can say for sure that group items 99% of the time sell for less than the sum of their parts. It's just an unfortunate reality for most except for very significant items.

This ball could be special. Having Bush on the ball would have really sealed the uniqueness of it for any collector as likely a one of a kind item that would have tied the ball to the event more closely. I do think a letter from your dad explaining the provenance may be enough to get that extra value out of it. Maybe more than $500.

I would get it certed just prior to when he is going to sell it by whatever company is considered the most reputable at the time. I would think this would be the type of ball that would do well in an auction with a big write up.

As an aside, any chance he still has contacts and could get Bush to sign the ball now? I think it def would be worth it

[bjerome]

The ball being a Selig ball opens up the likelihood that it was signed at one of those two George W. Bush Baseball events posted earlier as opposed to Bill Clinton as Clinton really only had less than a 1 year window to have that type of event as the Selig balls came into play in the year 2000 if I recall correctly. Great piece and I would listen to Lordstan's take on this. He's a wealth on knowledge.

[mrmopar]

I wonder if there was, or even now is, a power struggle or respect for the sweet spot among a group of "equals". Traditionally the manager seems to grab it on team balls, but when you have a random selection of all star players, like an old timers game or this ball, it makes me wonder.

Yaz grabbed the sweet spot, but did that piss off Aaron or someone else by doing so? Was he first to sign? Was he later and just had the stones to take that spot after nobody else did?

Of course, I missed the fact that your dad had him sign that spot until after I wrote this, but had this not been the case, who should have been on the sweet spot and who actually ends up on it?

[Lordstan]

Originally Posted by mrmopar

I wonder if there was, or even now is, a power struggle or respect for the sweet spot among a group of "equals". Traditionally the manager seems to grab it on team balls, but when you have a random selection of all star players, like an old timers game or this ball, it makes me wonder.



Yaz grabbed the sweet spot, but did that piss off Aaron or someone else by doing so? Was he first to sign? Was he later and just had the stones to take that spot after nobody else did?



Of course, I missed the fact that your dad had him sign that spot until after I wrote this, but had this not been the case, who should have been on the sweet spot and who actually ends up on it?

On a ball like this, i would have tried to put the president on the sweet spot.
I think most of these multi signed balls probably come down to who physically gets to sign first. I think whomever signed first probably takes the sweet spot unless specifically asked not to.

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[icollectDCsports]

As for getting it authenticated, I think it depends upon the way you eventually sell it. If you sell it through an auction house, they'd take care of the authentication so you'd waste money doing it yourself ahead of time. Agree about the letter and the likelihood that the theme of this ball and where the autos were obtained, will make this more valuable than other, similar multi-signed balls. Good luck and thanks to your dad for the service he provided.

[Bos8]

I appreciate everyone taking the time to comment and provide their expertise/feedback. It is really appreciated... I've also enjoyed the conversation about the sweet spot! I provided the links to him that Steve shared, which was awesome. Thank you.

As far as getting President Bush to sign the ball, I don't see that as being something that can be done. He's been retired 15+ year. However we do have the single signed George Bush ball.

ICollectDCSports... as far as selling this item via auction house, would that be something that should be done for this particular item? Is it a high enough dollar item. I'll be honest, all of my experience purchasing sports cards has come from buying budget T206 on EBAY, so I've only wishfully looked at auction house items never actually diving into that realm.

[icollectDCsports]

Originally Posted by Bos8

I appreciate everyone taking the time to comment and provide their expertise/feedback. It is really appreciated... I've also enjoyed the conversation about the sweet spot! I provided the links to him that Steve shared, which was awesome. Thank you.

As far as getting President Bush to sign the ball, I don't see that as being something that can be done. He's been retired 15+ year. However we do have the single signed George Bush ball.

ICollectDCSports... as far as selling this item via auction house, would that be something that should be done for this particular item? Is it a high enough dollar item. I'll be honest, all of my experience purchasing sports cards has come from buying budget T206 on EBAY, so I've only wishfully looked at auction house items never actually diving into that realm.

I've never consigned anything to an auction house, so I'm not the best person to advise you on that. However, I do think that, given the context in which this was signed and the provenance you can provide, it's probably best putting this in an auction (if you do decide to sell) to see what it will bring in a high visibility and competitive bidding situation. Downside, of course, is the cut the auction house would take. Others here will have better advice on consigning and probably some suggestions. Overall, I'd say it's a nice item but not one that would bring major dollars so you should strongly consider whether the sentimental value to you and your family is worth parting with it.

[Bos8]

Originally Posted by icollectDCsports

I've never consigned anything to an auction house, so I'm not the best person to advise you on that. However, I do think that, given the context in which this was signed and the provenance you can provide, it's probably best putting this in an auction (if you do decide to sell) to see what it will bring in a high visibility and competitive bidding situation. Downside, of course, is the cut the auction house would take. Others here will have better advice on consigning and probably some suggestions. Overall, I'd say it's a nice item but not one that would bring major dollars so you should strongly consider whether the sentimental value to you and your family is worth parting with it.

Gotcha. Thanks!