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Ruth ball
CM Sports Cards
Posts: 7 ✭✭
I have no concerns about the ball being authentic but what do I do about the wrapping that was placed on the ball in the 1950’s. Any thoughts about removing it?
One Of The Good Guys!!!
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CM Sports Cards
Posts: 7 ✭✭
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Is that actually pasted onto the baseball itself or more like a bag/shrink wrap?
My brother-in-law has the ball and I told him do not remove the wrapping until I get more guidance. He believes his uncle, who gave him the ball, used shrink wrap on the ball and it’s been on it ever since. Not sure if it is stuck to the ball?
That would be the most important thing to determine if you wish to remove it. If it’s stuck to the baseball at all I wouldn’t remove it and I would have a professional do it. If it looks like just a bag/wrap and can be cleanly removed without trouble then I would carefully remove it.
I don't think they really had shrink wrap then. It looks like cellophane or something similar. It appears to be fragile and with any luck with just break away.
But I agree...I wouldn't touch it unless I was 1000% certain what it was.
We were able to get the wrapping off and it was not stuck to the ball. So here’s some closer and clear pictures of the ball. Background on the ball is that my brother-in-law got the ball from his uncle who worked a hotel chains from New York to Florida. The ball was signed 17 March 1920 and looks to be a spring training ball. I don’t know if there is a additional signature on the ball, maybe American league president Johnson?
Looks nice. I agree, that additional signature could very well be American League President Johnson. Nice baseball.
If you have time/money I would get it authenticated and have it encapsulated in a baseball cube for preservation and insurance purposes.
I looked at autographs of Johnson and it’s not him. Next step is to get it authenticated so we can side what to do with the ball. It’s an early Yankees Ruth ball and it’s his first spring training with the Yankees.
Not sure who the other autograph is, there was no Johnson on the Yankees 1920, so…?
What is that stuff to the right of the date? It looks like printing? (Hopefully it's not a third signature).
Also, I found a few autographs online of Ban Johnson on baseballs and they match yours perfectly.
Too bad it's not a single signed Ruth. But that's like saying it's too bad your vintage Rolls Royce is not in your favorite color.
Looks like a stamp of some kind. The stamp appears to have a word then what appears to be a printed signature below it.
I hope to have the ball in hand in the near future. Unsure of the other SIGs until I can take a close look at it.
Done some research and it looks like the B Johnson auto is a stamped as is the other markings on the ball. I have no doubt that it’s a ball from the 1919 season that was being used for spring training thus the worn look.
I see later in this thread that it has been successfully unwrapped. If the wrapping had been placed on it in the 1950s it could not have been shrink wrap. That was first used in the very early 1970s. It was probably cellophane.
That is a 1918-1924 era American League baseball. The Ban Johnson signature is stamped onto the ball. All the baseballs had this stamp on them.
Here's a photo of one of the balls, where you can just see the first strokes of the "B" on the right side:
http://keymancollectibles.com/balls/1918officialamericanleaguebaseball1924.htm
Steve