Auction Item Details
Lot 517
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Lot Number: 517
Description: Unique 1919 Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb auto. baseball. Ruth related objects dating to his early years with the Red Sox (1915-1919) are relatively rare and infrequently available, with signatures from that period even scarcer. Offered is an official Reach Johnson AL baseball bearing Ruth’s signature as well as that of Ty Cobb, Ruth’s rival for greatest player of the era. Ruth appears on the sweet spot in sepia ink, rating 5 out of 10. Cobb, on the panel above, rates 6/7 out of 10 in the same sepia ink. Remarkably, each player has added the same date notation “Sept. 18th, 1919” below their signatures. The ball itself is medium toned and largely free of significant blemishes, save for one small stain near the end of Ruth’s autograph. The ball stampings remain pronounced. The history books tell us that Cobb and his Detroit Tigers visited Fenway Park on that date, defeating Ruth’s Red Sox by a score of 8-2. Interestingly, two days after this ball was signed, Babe Ruth tied Ned Williamson’s major-league HR mark of 27 with a game-winner off Lefty Williams of the White Sox. Four days later he would top the mark by hitting No. 28 over the roof of the Polo Grounds. It is an absolute fact that during their playing careers the two great players held a great deal of contempt for one another. It is almost certainly for that reason that Ruth and Cobb autographed baseballs dating to their playing careers are virtually non existent. Exceptional signature rarity with historical significance: Includes LOA from JSA and letter of provenance from the family of the original recipient: Ball: EX, Signatures: Range VG/EX-EX+
Estimated Price: ($15,000.00-$20,000.00)
