Vintage Baseball Question

seaverfan123

I recently sent out a message about having an autographed ball from either the 1949 All-Star Game or a Bklyn Dodger Oldtimer Game from the early 1950s. Since then, I've found the ball includes signatures from 10 Hall of Famers (all dead) spanning five decades from the 1900s to the 1950s. The HOFers that autographed the ball are:

Roy Campanella, Zack Wheat, Hugh Duffy, Freddy Lindstrom, Joe Medwick, Cal Hubbard, Edd Roush, Travis Jackson, George Kelly and Johnny Mize

Other Notables include Lefty O'Doul, Babe Herman, Ralph Branca and Bobby Thompson

I sent the ball to PSA for authentication. Upon its return (and assuming no problem), I'll sell it -- which leads to three questions:

1.Would a ball like this drive demand? I'm just not sure if people want something like this versus a bb card or an autographed picture.
2.Which drives higher demand: A ball with 10 Hall of Fame signatures or a ball with a theme (like the 1949 All-Star Game or a team ball)?
3.How should it be auctioned? Ebay? Or, would a more formal approach like a Sotheby's auction be better off (or am I being unrealistic as the ball might not generate $500)?

Thanks!

WinPitcher

Before anyone can answer these questions IMO hope that all the sigs are legit. many of these old ball have what they call clubhouse signatures.

Good luck in any event


Steve


edit to add if legit and in nice condition ball should get you more then 500

and it does sound like an old timers game.

MooseDog

Just a couple of thoughts.

1) Because the ball has a "mixed" theme, that will probably lessen demand a little
2) None of the individual signatures, save for Campanella, is a particularly high demand signature even though they are all HOFers. All of the players listed were prolific signers during their lifetimes. My feeling is a "theme" ball would garner higher demand
3) Once you get the ball back I think it would be worth a phone call to MastroNet, Robert Edward, or even Mike Guitierrez. They can give you an idea of what the ball might garner in an auction. My guess is that it will be higher than $500 but less than $2000. The condition of the ball is also very important. If it is cream white with bold clear signatures and displays very well the price could be much higher. If the ball is yellowed, signatures faded, you might be lucky to get $500. It would cost you very little to try a little fishing on eBay. Run an auction with a .99 minimum bid but a reserve of say, $5000 and see where the bidding goes. That should give you an idea of worth without risking losing the ball for too little.

Agree with WinPitcher that you have to watch for clubhouse sigs. I have similar Yankee Old Timers game ball from the 1960s that has a fake Jackie Robinson sig that just makes the ball relatively worthless, even though the rest of the sigs are good.

felix76

Another option to consider on E-bay is a BIN with a best offer. That way you still have those interested sending their max offer,
but you don't lose the buyers you would with a set reserve.

seaverfan123

Thanks for your thoughts and I appreciate your insight. I heard back from PSADNA: They authenticated the ball as from an early 60s reunion (perhaps an OldTimer's Day) between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. Altogether, there are ten Hall of Famers that signed the ball. Of the ten, Roy Campanella's signature is the only one listed as a clubhouse signature. The Hall of Famers are:
Zack Wheat, Fredy Lindstrom, Edd Roush, Travis Jackson, Joe Medwick, George Kelly, Carl Hubbell, Johnny Mize, Monte Irvin and Roy Campanella
Some of the non HOFers are worth noting:
Lefty O'Doul, Babe Herman, Ralph Branca, Bobby Thompson, Dick Bartell, Harry Danning, Dolph Camilli, Van Mungo, Hal Schumacher and Mickey Owen
You guys mentioned beware of the clubhouse signature! Does this mean the ball is worthless? Wheat, Lindstrom, Roush, Jackson and Medwick seem to drive high value thanks to their vintage (they played in the 00s-20s). And, I think because of the Dodger-Giant vintage rivalry, this ball could drive some demand to the Baby-boomer New York Baseball fan. Should I expect more than $500 or less than $50?

Thanks, again.

bri2327

With the Campy sig having been deemed clubhouse it probably wont come close to $500. If I had to guess, maybe $150-300.

Griffins

I"d email Mastro and see if they will take it in their collectors auction. IMO you'll do much better there than on ebay.
Mastro

NickM

I think we're talking about the $500 range (with more chance of higher than lower).

SCP/Sotheby's might be the single best auction house for this, because of their New York showroom and strong emphasis on New York material for their auctions.

Nick