Auction Item Details
Lot 201
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Lot Number: 201
Description: Significant Joe DiMaggio Home Run baseball attributed to the fourth game of the 1951 World Series. In the 1951 World Series, the Yankees defeated the Giants for their fourteenth World Championship. The series would prove to be the first for Mickey Mantle and the last for Joe DiMaggio - a seminal moment in the "passing of the guard". In the fourth game of the series played at New York's Polo Grounds, Joe DiMaggio connected one final time for a two run home run into the left field seats. Irving Stein attended that fourth game, and an as fate would have it, caught the ball hit for Joe DiMaggio's final home run. The baseball is a Ford Frick National League ball, which is appropriate and historically accurate given the game's location at the Polo Grounds. The ball exhibits light to moderate surface wear, showing characteristics of having been "rubbed" up for game use. The side panel of the baseball has a period inscription in black fountain pen that reads, "October 1951 To Ronnie & Gary Joe DiMaggio". The ball is accompanied by a period typewritten letter sent from Irving Stein to his nephews, Ronnie and Gary Pred, on October 24th, 1951 with content detailing the circumstances of how he caught the baseball. In addition to general family salutations, the letter states: "Under separate cover you will receive a package containing a baseball. It is not just an ordinary baseball but one that is autographed by Joe DiMaggio. This ball was the one that he hit for a home run in the fourth game of the World Series. I was at the game, as you will see by the ticket stubs, and caught the ball when it was hit into the second tier of the Polo Grounds. Knowing that you both eat and sleep baseball, also that you have the ambition of playing big league ball, I had this ball autographed as a souvenir from your Aunt Charlotte, your cousins Susan and Judy and myself." Amazingly, the Pred brothers kept the baseball's original packaging, which is addressed and postmarked from Irving Stein to Ronnie and Gary Pred in South Dakota. They also retained their uncle's two original ticket stubs, which correspond to the location of the DiMaggio home run at the Polo Grounds. Based on family history and interpretation of the period letter, it is our belief that Mr. Stein attempted to have Joe DiMaggio sign the ball at some point after the game. The ball was in fact signed, in the period, by a secretarial or clubhouse employee rather than by Joe DiMaggio himself. This circumstance in no way affects our representation of the ball as it was not uncommon for DiMaggio, during his late playing career, to decline requests for autographs. It is also possible that the baseball never made it past the clubhouse employee for DiMaggio's consideration. The offered baseball and all related objects are being offered for the first time publicly by the Pred brothers, having remained in their possession since receipt from their Uncle in October of 1951. Historical home run baseball with significance as being the final one hit by Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio during the 1951 World Series. Includes LOA from James Spence Authentication (dating the ink to be period) and letter of provenance from the Pred family: EX
Estimated Price: ($10,000.00-$15,000.00)
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