Baseball Autograph Question

Albertdidit

I have a bunch of baseballs i got signed in the late 80's - over the years i have sold some and kept others. Many of them are perfect white while others turned off white even brown in some spots. Some worse than others.

It is so frustrating to have baseball autos of hall of famers that were in brand new perfect condition and were stored never to be exposed to light and somehow arent white anymore

My question is for the ones that are still white do you think those can also turn off white at anytime or if it hasnt happened by now its safe to say it wont happen for a very long time if ever

elninopadre

It eventually turns paper yellow because of oxidation. Paper is made from wood, which is made up mainly of white cellulose. Wood also has a lot of a dark substance in it called lignin, which ends up in the paper, too, along with the cellulose. The exposure of lignin to air and sunlight is what turns paper yellow. So it is not just sunlight... Might want to plastic saran wrap tight as well...

Arsenal83

I believe this issue has to do with the particular leather used on the Haitian produced baseballs from the 80's and early 90's. From what I remember reading, there's nothing you can do to stop it.

Albertdidit

thanks for the info elninopadre and Arsenal83

its so random that some look perfect and others pretty much garbage