Auction Item Details
Lot 692
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Lot Number: 692
Description: Rare and Important September 27, 1917 Tim Murnane Benefit Day autographed baseball. Lightly toned and clear coated B.Johnson AL ball signed by 17 players from a game played in Fenway Park to benefit the family of the late sportswriter Tim Murnane played between an All-Star team (See photo) and the Boston Red Sox before a crowd of 17,000. The day featured the game as well as hitting and throwing contests won respectively by Babe Ruth and Joe Jackson. The signatures on the ball are in varied condition grades and players listed are followed with a number grade from 1-10: Tris Speaker: 6, John Enzmann: 5, Jack Graney: 8, Steve O’Niell: 8, Joe Wood: 8, Fritz Coumbe: 7, Leon Fohl: 3 (played for Pitt. in 1902), Guy Morton: 8, Ray Chapman:2 (Killed by a pitch in 1920, Walter Johnson: 2-4, Ty Cobb: 2-4, Hughie Jennings: 2/3, and Joe Jackson: 2. The other signatures on the ball are either illegible or inconclusive. The game was won by the Red Sox behind the pitching of a young Babe Ruth who outlasted Johnson for the victory. The offered baseball is believed to be the only known autographed piece from that game and we attribute this ball to that game for several reasons:1: The player combination given time period, career spans, and roster all are consistent with a game in this period. 2: The fact that several of the key team members did not appear together publicly in another game scenario within the possible timeline. 3: The fact that the players on the ball are either All-Star members, Boston Red Sox, or had a likely connection to Murnane.There is certainly no reasonable way to guarantee that this ball was signed on that day but given all of the documented facts and the forementioned conclusions it is a very appropriate and strong attribution that this ball was signed and quite possibly used on that date. Offered with a letter of authenticity and opinion from Kevin Keating who writes, “The writing is, in my opinion, characteristic of that of Joe Jackson. Moreover, magnification of the area reveals traces of ink wher the individual signed his last name and none of those vestiges are inconsistent with where the name “Jackson” would have been written.” Please call for further details. A fascinating autographed piece with historical importance: Ball: VG-EX, Signatures: Range PR-EX
Estimated Price: $2,500.00-$3,500.00
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