Game Used Baseballs

[Shoeless Moe]

Listing a number of my game used baseball finds over the years and hoping others will add theirs as well, so we have a thread showing all.

I know the majority of the NET54-ers are Card guys, but those came off a printing press in some factory. I prefer the artifacts that were used in the actual Game throughout history. The Balls, Bats, Gloves, Hats, Jerseys and Stadium artifacts.

1st up....

Game Used Baseball from the Famous 1917 Timothy Murnane Benefit Game.

Baseball thrown by Babe Ruth as a pitcher for the Red Sox

This game featured the 1917 Red Sox vs a Team of Major League All Stars (Shoeless Joe Jackson, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Tris Speaker, Buck Weaver, Ray Chapman and more!)

Before 1921, it was common for a baseball to be in play for over 100 pitches. Players used the same ball until it started to unravel. Early baseball leagues were very cost-conscious, so fans had to throw back balls that had been hit into the stands. The longer the ball was in play, the softer it became—and hitting a heavily used, softer ball for distance is much more difficult than hitting a new, harder one. The ball itself was softer to begin with, probably making home runs less likely.



About the game itself:

More than 17,000 people gathered at Fenway Park out of respect to his memory and more than $13,000 was contributed to his memorial fund. Entertainment of the highest possible caliber lasted from 2 PM until 5 PM and the only regrettable thing about it was that Murnane was not there to see it. The weather conditions were perfect and it seemed as if the day was made to order for the occasion.

Incidentally, the Red Sox defeated the All-Stars, 2 to 0 in a great game. There were some interesting contests before the game. Mike McNally of the Red Sox equaled the world's record in getting down the first base on a bunt in a time of 3.25 seconds. Ray Chapman was not far behind the record for circling the bases. Joe Jackson made a throw of 396 feet, 8 inches which is pretty close to the best performance on record. Dutch Leonard hit the open end of a barrel, sitting on a box at second base, on his first row from home plate, beating the likes of Duffy Lewis, Ty Cobb, Harry Hooper, Joe Jackson, Sam Agnew, Pinch Thomas, Wally Schang and Walter Johnson couldn't do it in three attempts. Babe Ruth won the fungo hitting contest, hitting the ball 402 ft, 8 inches.

Will Rogers was there with his cow pony and circled the park at top speed, whirling a lariat that had a loop that seemed to be about 30 feet in diameter. Then with Tris Speaker and Ty Cobb riding the horse, Rogers gave a thrilling exhibition of rope work. He finished by coaching third base for the Red Sox in the ballgame.

Hughie Jennings, coached the All-Stars with the assistance of heavyweight champ John L Sullivan. Rabbit Maranville got the crowd going when he squared off in front of John L. and ducked out of the way of his swing.

The game was a gem, Babe Ruth and Rube Foster making the All-Stars look like Bush Leaguers. Three hits were made off the Babe and the one by Cobb was an infield scratch. Nothing like a hit was even close off Foster. Urban Shocker, Howard Ehmke and Walter Johnson did the pitching for the All-Stars and it was reserved for Walter to be charged with the loss of the game.

Shocker was hit for a triple in the first inning, a double in the second, and a single in the third but he always tightened up in the pinches. Ehmke worked for the next three innings and in two of them, got by without being nicked.

In the sixth inning, a base on balls was followed by a fumble by the Rabbit on a hard-hit ball by Duffy Lewis, Tilly Walker then came through with a smashing single to center and it looked as though the Red Sox would finally score. But a great throw by Joe Jackson and a lightning play by Wally Schang at the plate nailed Dick Hoblitzell as he slid wide.

The Red Sox pulled off their batting rally against Johnson in the eighth inning after two were out. Jack Barry started off with a single to left. Hobby hit a sharp bounder over Walter's head, which he had misjudged, letting it go through without a try, thinking Maranville or Chapman would field the ball and make the force play at second base. But the ball was going so fast, it shot between them into center field. Duffy Lewis was next up and what he did to the ball was good enough. He met it squarely on the nose and sent it sailing off the centerfield bleacher wall for a triple, scoring Barry and Hobby to bust up the game.

The All-Stars did not have a right fielder who can play the sun in right field. Jackson, Speaker and Cobb alternated in each of the three outfield positions. While playing in left field during the second inning, Speaker almost spoiled Tilly Walker's double, going up the bank on the run and having the ball fall out of his glove when he fell down.

The big crowd was rooting hard for the Red Sox to win, but they were always ready to applaud the players on the opposing team, Johnson and Cobb being the favorites. Maranville only had two chances, but in practice he gave the crowd a thrill with some trick fielding.


As noted earlier balls back then were used the entire game thus I fully believe this ball was pitched by Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson, and hit by Shoeless Joe and Cobb, among others. No way of ever knowing for certain but with the facts in place its highly likely.

This ball ended up being sold at Goldin Auctions for $4287.50

https://goldinauctions.com/LotDetail...entoryid=29585

[Shoeless Moe]

Very happy & lucky to find this out there. A rare game used baseball from game 21 of DiMaggio's 56 Game Hitting Streak.

Seller "Recently found at an estate in NW Michigan from a Glen Lake cottage built in the 1930's is a Game Baseball from a New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers game played on June 5th 1941." and no reason to doubt the story, as seller is from Michigan and no history of baseball items, but a good long time seller.

Love when the ball is found in the home state of the home team or player. I think that adds to it. Also the ink is vintage and the Reach (faded but visible) stamping matches up to a 1941 A.L. Ball.

Guessing from what the original attendee of this game in '41 wrote on the ball was this could be a foul ball off Frankie "The Crow" Crosetti's bat pitched by Hall of Famer Harold "Hal" Newhouser, who the person wrote Harold as he was only 20 years old and maybe didn't go by Hal just yet. No real other reason to note Crosetti on the ball who went 0-4.

DiMaggio's only hit in this game (to keep the streak alive) was a triple in the 6th inning, Crosetti batted 2 batters later and flied out. Was this the ball DiMaggio tripled with then Crosetti knocked it out of play? I wish, but who knows.

Also, when I was looking at the box score I noticed Bill Dickey wasn't in the lineup this game which I found odd since he was their starting catcher. But researching it more, Dickey and Joe McCarthy were not at this game in Detroit because they were attending Lou Gehrig's funeral. Dickey being Gehrig's roommate when they played together.

I had the case made for the ball. I could only find 2 other balls from his Streak that have come to auction. So I feel this is a pretty rare significant find.


Sold at Heritage for $1320.00

[Shoeless Moe]

Any Al Simmons fans out there? Philadelphia Athletics fans? Game Used baseball collectors? Collectors of the unique? Anybody Polish?

Official American League Baseball with the inscription from some lucky fan:

"Ball tossed into crowd by Al Simmons"

Also has the date "May 2, 1930"

Period ink

Detroit Tigers played the defending and soon to be repeat World Champion Philly Athletics. Hall of Famer Al Simmons 1930 year would be his personal best batting .381


MUST MUST Read on Mr Simmons:

“I wish I had nine players named Al Simmons,” Hall of Fame manager Connie Mack said.

https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/simmons-al

https://baseballhall.org/discover/in...aded-to-boston

SI not included just taken from internet

Very neat relic from the hands of Al Simmons!

(I had the holder made for it)


Sold here in the BST $225

[Shoeless Moe]

RARE 1927 Reach Official American League Ball - Ban Johnson, President. (One Year Only Version).

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL.....

In addition to being a rare baseball from the greatest time in baseball history, this ball has ties to the GREATEST TEAM in history, the 1927 Yankees!

On the other side of the ball reads "Compliments of Urban Shocker" 1927 Yankees - Pitcher.

How many people can say they own a piece of the '27 Yankees???

Guessing this ball was tossed to a fan after a game by the Yankee pitcher Urban Shocker (who would die the following year). The fan luckily documented it on the ball, so no mystery here. A ball used by MURDERERS ROW, possibly thrown, fielded, or hit by Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig, and definitely tossed by starting pitcher Urban Shocker!


SOLD this summer (2020) on Ebay $1025.00

[Shoeless Moe]

I found this on Ebay for $89, here is the write-up and sale when I consigned it to Heritage Auctions (better pix of it there too):

1917 World Series Game Used Baseball--The Final Out? Ancient sphere was discovered at an estate auction near York, Pennsylvania, not far from the town of Reading where New York Giants player Lew McCarty lived and died. This fact becomes particularly intriguing when we consider that his name is penned on the opposing sweet spot from the bolder vintage application of the words "World's Series Giants & White Sox." Unfortunately the name is all we are able to make out on this area of the ball, but it's clearly a period notation, which leads us to consider McCarty's role in that early Fall Classic. Intriguingly, we find that, with two out in the bottom of ninth inning of the sixth and final game, McCarty was tapped to pinch hit for Giants pitcher Pol Perritt, grounding out to second to end the Series and establish "Shoeless Joe" Jackson's White Sox as World Champions.

While we cannot definitively establish this as the last ball of that Series, the tradition of saving Championship-clinching balls was already well established at this juncture of baseball history, and this manner of notation is consistent with known examples from other years. Certainly it is at the very least a game used ball from that famous World Series, and the final out would seem to be the only incident from that October that would merit a mention of McCarty. Given the fact that the ball was discovered in McCarty's backyard, the suggestion that he might have picked it up after the out was recorded is also a reasonable speculation. The ball exhibits heavy wear, clearly dating to both before and after the ancient notations, and while the ball's stamping has been lost to the ages, the black and red stitching is correct for period ONL horsehide. A thrilling relic from the White Sox last Championship of the twentieth century.

Sold at Heritage for $2031.50

https://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball/1...ription-071515

[Shoeless Moe]

22 year old Ty Cobb vs 35 year old Honus Wagner - 1st major meeting of the 2 on a field.

(from Paddy O'Connor collection, catcher Pitt.)

Per our resident expert Brandon Grunbaum, the Harry Pullium stamped balls are very rare only a handful have surfaced. Pulliam shot himself in NYC in the summer of 1909, they say due to the stress of his position and his decison on the famous Fred Merkle play the season before, giving the Cubs their last World Series (until 2016).

Sold on Ebay approx $2500