Auction Item Details
Lot 128
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Lot Number: 128
Description: Scarce 1917 Chicago White Sox team auto. baseball with "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. In 1917, an interesting and foreboding twist of fate occurred that would greatly benefit, and in many ways seal the fate of, the Chicago White Sox. The "Southsiders" had finished third and second in the American League for the 1915 and 1916 campaigns respectively. For the 1917 season, the White Sox added two key members, first baseman Chick Gandil, and shortstop Swede Risberg. They were, in part, the extra ingredient the Sox needed to take the American League title in 1917 en route to a World Series victory over the New York Giants. Ironically, those two very players, along with six others, would find themselves embroiled in the most infamous scandal in Major League Baseball history - the "fix" of the 1919 World Series. Offered is an extremely scarce and quite possibly unique surviving exemplar of a 1917 World Champion Chicago White Sox team-signed baseball. Lightly toned Ban Johnson AL baseball retains bold stampings with red and blue stitching. The ball has been signed by (15) members of the team as follows with those Black Sox who would later be banished from baseball identified with asterisks: Eddie Collins, Reb Russell, R.L. "Ziggy" Hasbrook, Dave Danforth, Chick Gandil *, Fred McMullin *, Happy Felsch *, U.C. "Red" Faber, Buck Weaver *, Ray Shalk, Shano Collins, Lefty Williams *, Byrd Lynn, Chas. "Swede" Risberg *, and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson *. The signatures range from 1 to 8 out of 10 with all but two remaining clearly legible. Interestingly, the Joe Jackson signature remains one of the strongest on the baseball, rating 7 out of 10. Jackson is a tragic figure in baseball history who, to this day, holds the third highest career batting average of all time at .356 behind Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby. He was illiterate, but learned to sign his name laboriously, which he almost never did, with the result that his signature is extremely rare on any medium. Only a few authentic autographs exist on a baseball, making this example that much rarer, historic, and desirable. Also, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first 1917 White Sox team baseball signed by seven of the "Eight Men Out" to have been offered at auction. The ball originated from a Massachusetts area family and is being offered publicly for the first time. The baseball represents an amazing historical sports rarity and is without question one of only a handful of World Championship team-signed balls that date from the 1910s era. Includes LOA from JSA: Overall: VG/EX-EX/MT
Estimated Price: ($25,000.00-$35,000.00)
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