1970 Baltimore Orioles Team Signed Ball

greyeagle

Hello, I am researching a baseball for a friend of mine you may be interesting in selling, hope I am in right forum. I know very little about what sports items may be worth and hope I might find help here and I Thank you in advance. From what I've been told: This ball was given to my friend when she was very young from Dave Leonhard who played with the Orioles in the 1970 series and he had the team sign it for my friend. Dave was the son of my friends mother who were also co workers. The ball has as I count 31 signatures..Palmer-Powell-Frank Robinson and others. The ball has been stored away for many years and is in very nice condition and has been handeled since I've had it with gloves. It is not graded and is raw. I have included some pics I hope. Though we are both certain it would be worth a bit but not sure what to ask for it. She also has an orange metal badge with ribbons on it from the 1966 series that says Baltimore Orioles World Champions 1966 in great condition that she might be interested in selling along with ball..she got this at series in 66. Thank you, Jerry

TheHun

That's a nice ball Jerry.

I would send the pics to some of the larger auction houses mentioned on this board.

edit: you might want to seek out Baltimore Orioles fan sites too.

Good Luck

cheers

CDsNuts

Dave was the son of my friends mother

Wouldn't that make him either your friend or your friend's brother? Is this some type of riddle?

Nice ball by the way. It's probably worth around $200 or so. Here's a frame of reference: 1969 ball That ball is in nicer shape than yours and is authenticated, but it at least gives you a ballpark figure to work with.

MooseDog

Nice ball but a couple of things will bring the value down...the ball is not an official American League ball, and it is kind of dirty. It's a bit weird that an O's player would give a signed ball to someone that was not an official ball, but the signatures are good. The ball is not from 1970 as Earl Weaver was the manager that year and is not on the ball. Hank Bauer was manager from 1964-1968. Bill Dillman is on the ball and was only with the O's in 1967 so that is probably when the ball was from.

However the signatures are strong, and the fact that Brooks, Frank and Boog are all together is a big plus. $200-300 is probably about right, but I wouldn't be surprised if were to sell for less since it is a non-official ball and not a World Championship year. Since it would cost $50-100 to get authenticated it's probably not worth the trouble.

The badge doesn't have a whole lot of value. Certainly under $50 and more likely in the $20 range at best.

Ironmanfan

Time to back up a little bit....it's NOT a 1969, nor 1970 NOT even a 1966 ball....Curt Blefary is on the ball and the last he played for the O's was 1968 and Leonhard wasn't even on the club in '66 (Wally Bunker went in the expansion draft prior to the '69 season)...There are a few guys on this ball that never made the majors (Gordon Lund, etc.) and the Frank Robinson "signature" is a clubhouse one. My guess is that this a Spring Training ball from 1968 (Bauer was fired mid way through that season; Elrod Hendricks first Spring Training was in '68) & on a good day worth MAYBE $75-$100. As an aside, Dave Leonhard is the only Johns Hopkins alum to make the Major Leagues (win a drink at a bar with that one; thank me later).

Ironmanfan

I just checked & the Orioles purchased Elrod Hendricks contract from the mexican league on 11/28/67....Gordon Lund's contract was purchased from Cleveland on 11/28/67 as well; The infamous Paul Knechtges was a minor league pitcher for the Orioles that never made the bigs (pitched in Rochester in '67); Dillman was in ST that year too...........I'm thinking $75-$100 maybe....

Ironmanfan

<< <i>That's a nice ball Jerry.

I would send the pics to some of the larger auction houses mentioned on this board.

>>



no auction house would touch this ball due to it's relative small value