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Babe Ruth & Lou Gehrig Ball... Who thinks this is real?

bostonlarrybostonlarry Posts: 8
in Trading Cards & Memorabilia Forum
Anyone feel like they are a Ruth/Gehrig expert?

I don't want to bid A LOT of money without some other opinions. I'm not rich ya know. LOL!




Link to auction
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Comments

  • baseballfanaticbaseballfanatic Posts: 2,415 ✭✭
    Hard to believe it doesnt come with PSA/DNA or at least a Spence letter. Even though it looks great, that might tell you the whole story....
  • lawnmowermanlawnmowerman Posts: 19,477 ✭✭✭✭
    Yeah......I dont think so. If it were mine and (authentic) and I was going to sell it, I wouldnt think twice about sending it in (psa/dna). Think of all the extra $$ it would bring being that psa says its real. So I would say fake.

    Matt

    1994 Pro Line Live

    TheDallasCowboyBackfieldProject

  • envoy98envoy98 Posts: 4,000 ✭✭
    There are an awful lot of things about that Ruth sig that "JDLR" Just Don't Look Right.

    Not the least of which is the "B" being fat, the downstroke being slightly tilted as it's usually more upright. There is a somewhat larger, more pronounced gap between the top of the upstroke and the curve of the B. There is also a lot of unusual "cramming" of the "e" in Babe and the R in Ruth. There is also no tail on the "R" in Ruth either.

    I don't have my pics of Gehrig auto's handy and I haven't studied his signature quite as much, though one thing that does strike me initially is the long lag between the G in Gehrig and the e... My other machine is down now so I can't look.

    They both could be legit but for a couple hundred bucks you'd think they'd submit them for authentication. Just my .02
    image
    My eBay Store

    BigCrumbs! I made over $250 last year!
  • bostonlarrybostonlarry Posts: 8
    Interesting points.

    Thanks guys!
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  • Stone193Stone193 Posts: 24,407 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I have one here that is PSA/DNA and the one from the auction - I wish I had an eye for this - IMO, if this is a fake, it's one hell of a forgery.

    mike
    Mike
  • MorrellManMorrellMan Posts: 3,240 ✭✭✭
    Mike
    I agree - that is one quality forgery if that's what it is. It really looks too good to be true, being that it is so bold and yet so unauthenticated. I guess everybody in the world doesn't grade material, but I would think this particular auctioneer would understand the increased value a grade would give this item.

    Re.: your ball - how the hell many times did the Babe sign that thing?image
    Mark (amerbbcards)


    "All evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
  • jrinckjrinck Posts: 1,321 ✭✭
    What's really scary about sigs like Ruth's is that somebody could literally make a career out of learning how to forge just this one signature. Obviously, the PSA/DNA folks know what to look for, so if somebody did nothing but focus on Ruth, perhaps he or she could learn the same nuances, and then create forgeries at will.

    They could introduce them into the Ebay/Auction marketplace at around one every six months or so and nobody would ever catch on. It could be a highly profitable endeavor and one that requires very little overhead once the signature is mastered. Scary stuff.
  • envoy98envoy98 Posts: 4,000 ✭✭
    Notice how far the left side of the B comes down on the authenticated ball (bottom) as well as the gap between that line and the bottom of the B. No tail on the R, overlapping ink, a crammed signature, "Babe" appears to taper down while "Ruth" appears to start above it and taper up. The "a" in Babe looks unusually large too. But, again...I don't get paid to authenticate autos so I could be completely wrong, all of these characteristics seem inconsistent to me though.
    image
    My eBay Store

    BigCrumbs! I made over $250 last year!
  • Stone193Stone193 Posts: 24,407 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I thought I would post some criteria that one would see in a letter from PSA/DNA that may or may not disqualify a sig:

    1. Atypical letter slant, angle, and or pitch
    2. Drawn slowly
    3. Ink doesn't have characteritics normally found with naturally aged ink
    4. Irregular letter shape and or formation
    5. Irregular overlapping of strokes
    6. Irregular spacing between letter
    7. Sizing of letters disproportionate/exaggerated/undersized
    8. Supportive writing abnormal (i.e. salutation, grammar, date)

    Mark
    Not my ball - got it off ebay.

    Josh
    Your observation seem right on the money but I just don't know that everytime Ruth signed he did it the same way? Was he standing, sitting, drunk, sober etc.?

    mike
    Mike
  • bostonlarrybostonlarry Posts: 8
    FYI:

    I'm from Boston and I both know & trust the auctioneer as well as his judgment.

    I wish it had PSA/DNA backup though. I'm not the biggest PSA/DNA fan BUT they seem to have his sig down pretty well. Guys like Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle & Ted Williams give me fits. Their autos are so nice & flowing it's easy to see someone forging them b/c of the dollars involved. PSA/DNA look at the autos under high powered magnifying machines & stuff so they really do their best to figure it out.

    I'm still debating......
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  • KnucklesKnuckles Posts: 2,512 ✭✭✭
    Looks pretty damn real to me.. If it is forged I would be surprised. Why don't you spend $5 and get a PSA/DNA quick opinion?
    image
  • bostonlarrybostonlarry Posts: 8
    FYI:

    It went for $19,000+

    I did not win it. WOW!


    Link to auction
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  • Stone193Stone193 Posts: 24,407 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Larry
    I think it's a really great ball! That's a lot of money!

    thanx for the update
    mike
    Mike
  • sayheykid54sayheykid54 Posts: 779 ✭✭
    The autographs of both Ruth and Gehrig are authentic. Great ball-- should have sold for more.
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