This Ruth ball is incredible -- and so is the LOA!

jrdolan

This is an amazing Babe Ruth ball. But I was surprised to see that the PSA/DNA letter of authenticity does not carry the usual dispassionate description. Instead it carries a gushing sales pitch for an auction, and some flights of the imagination on how the ball might have been signed. (Mastro should hire whoever wrote it up for American Memorabila.) I didn't know PSA/DNA did that -- let the owner fill the description section with whatever they wish.

Note the gushing sales pitch on the LOA refers to the ball as an "8" while the description in the eBay auction opines that it's a "15".

A761506

I question the legitimacy of the autograph even with the PSA/DNA certification.

julen23

Where do I get a fresh e-bay t-shirt like that?

damn gina!

pandrews

so is the LOA a fake or does it belong with a different ball?

interchanges

That's quite a romantic description. He must think an overdose of nostalgia will just make us want to bid.

Any auction where we get to see the stoner holding up the item(s) for sale immediately reduces credibility by at least 50%.

lostdart58

The PSA/DNA # is not in their database.

1979COLLECTOR

20,000.00 and reserve is not met....... that doesnt sound like a scammer...any ideas on this guys?

Knuckles

A picture of the ball/sig should be on the certificate.. no?

jrdolan

A photo of a Ruth-signed ball most definitely WOULD be on a real PSA/DNA letter of authenticity. They've been doing that for some time on special items, and this one was allegedly authenticated last month.

I didn't check out the cert. # in the database like lostdart did. Holy crap, I don't think I've seen an eBay scam this elaborate.

How much you wanna bet it does not reach reserve and several bidders receive offers to buy offline?

calleocho

thats a lot of money for a fake ball...

A761506

Looks like someone went over that cross in the T a couple times before they were satisfied with the way it looked.

sagard

It doesn't look like the seller is trying to hide anything. If the auto is no good, I doubt the seller knows it.

mudflap02

Gotta love that wadded up paper towel in the bottom of the holder. Looks a lot like one of my shipping jobs, as a few of the guys on here can attest to.

In addition, I find it hard to believe that any professional authentication letter would end with the word "swell."

jrdolan

Muddy, maybe Swell is a new grade for a ball. PSA's only been grading balls for a short time, after all. It could be an experiment. Maybe Swell falls between Cool-Beans and Sweeeeeeeeet.

Anything's possible if PSA/DNA is letting submitters write their own Letter of Authenticity!

daywalker2029

i thought when u sent balls and stuff like that into PSA for grading/authentication they returned the item encapsulated like cards/comics are returned

jrdolan

They don't have a sealed container for balls, not yet anyway. They put a permanent sticker on the ball with a cert. # that matches the LOA. Supposedly you can't remove the sticker without damaging it. They also put on a unique DNA mark that is invisible to the eye.

nyyankyfan

A761506 says" The LOA is laughable, you would think whoever made it would be smart enough to include even the most basic statements that PSA/DNA prints on all LOA's as to how they determined the sig to be real."

Sometimes PSA/DNA does authentification for auction houses. From my experience, I should know:

Linky

willsr

I notice that the auction is still up. Looks pretty legit so far. I am no Babe Ruth signature expert and that one looks like one from a replica I had when I was a kid, but... eBay hasn't shut it down yet.

jrdolan

Apparently some heavy hitters are in there swinging, and I guess they know what they're doing. I'm no Ruth auto expert, but I think it's odd that PSA/DNA allowed a submitter to write their own LOA.

Kosmo

not only does the reference number come up as not found in the PSA/DNA database, but the instructions for checking a PSA/DNA authenticated item tell you to enter the six or seven digit number - the reference number in question has five numbers.

262Runner

In none of his pictures does he show the PSA/DNA sticker that should be on the ball to match with the certificate. Hard to believe this has been bid up to $37K without some proof of authenticity other than a self written LOA.

jocelyn3003

Did any of you E-mail this guy to ask him why the certificate # is not in the PSA/DNA database?

VMFA115

I did a little checking and the belief is the ball is OK but the photo's have been enhanced. If it is the ball I am thinking about then it actually sold last month (4/7/05) for $12,969. Talk about inflation.

jrdolan

I did notice that the ball looks very toned in some photos and bright white in others. I just thought it was a flash issue. Wouldn't he have kept back the dingy photos if he meant to deceive about the ball's appearance?

Worse in my mind is that the self-written LOA gushes about the ball being an "8" -- which I think is pretty deceptive since PSA/DNA does grade auto balls now. I do NOT think PSA/DNA is grading that ball an "8" in such fawning Mastro-esque terms.

What about the serial number being non-existent? That seems pretty damning even if one can find explanations for everything else.

Kosmo

I just sent the seller an e-mail explaining that the reference number comes up as not found on the PSA website. Will see what response I get.

Kosmo

I called PSA and they advise that their computer system crashed and they lost about 50% of the cert numbers and it will be about another week before they are re-entered.

In his response to my e-mail, the seller stated the ball was authenticated by PSA for an auction. He did not address the issue of why it was not showing up on the website.

jrdolan

Top bid was $47,000 ... and it didn't meet the reserve. Now it's back with no reserve.

Something about this stumps me. Are people really willing to pay $47,000 without verifiable authentication? That self-written LOA without a cert number is the only proof?

That number on the sheet is only an auction number. It should have a cert number with matching sticker on the ball, and the LOA should include a photo of the ball that was authenticated to prevent shenanigans. PSA/DNA does that for cheapo memorabilia, so why not for this high-end item?

And yet there was some serious bidding last time. People with more money than me think the ball is just fine.

gmoneystyles

Is this really the way a LOA from PSA would be written? If so, "insert much sarcasm here". The letter is unprofessional in my books.

jrdolan

<< <i>Is this really the way a LOA from PSA would be written? If so, "insert much sarcasm here". The letter is unprofessional in my books. >>



I agree. I don't claim this is exactly what happened, but it almost seems like somebody scanned a real PSA/DNA letter of authenticity and then replaced everything except the logo and signatures. There's no cert number, no "in our considered opinion the slant, stroke, etc etc," no precise description, no photo of the ball, none of the things that are standard features for PSA/DNA ... just a gushing Mastro-esque sales pitch and some flights of fancy on how it might have been signed. I find it hard to believe that this is a real LOA at all.

And yet wealthy people, with much more knowledge about Ruth autos than I have, bid it up to $47,000. Must be all the photos of the guy holding it in his hand. Go figure.

gmoneystyles

I agree. I think maybe those that are bidding are a tad unedcuated. Either that or they have a large or unlimited disposable income and are willing to take the risk, which goes without saying.