A team signed baseball from the 1927 Yankees is worth six figures today. Back in 1927, it was just something the team handed out to special admirers.
The RMY Auctions Photo of the Day is a rare image of a frozen moment in time involving memorabilia from one of the greatest baseball teams ever assembled: Members of the 1927 Yankees autographing baseballs before the start of the World Series.
You’d see the same sight in a major league clubhouse today. Now, dozens are passed around so the team can hand them out to special sponsors, sell them to raise money for charity or use them for other purposes. In 1927, there probably weren’t quite as many. For one thing, finances didn’t allow for dozens of baseballs to be “wasted” in such a manner. Yet there are at least a dozen getting the fountain pen treatment from Herb Pennock, Pat Collins and Cedric Durst while trainer Doc Woods and coach Art Fletcher look on. Pennock, by the way, would win the third game in the Yankees’ four-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Stamped on the back by International News, the 6×8” photo has a hand-written set of identifications on the back.
Hopefully at some point Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig added their names rather than turning the duty over to a clubhouse attendant!
A complete team-signed 1927 Yankee ball in nice shape and including Ruth and Gehrig would likely command $200,000 or more at auction today but they are rarely offered.
The photo is one of hundreds of photos being offered in RMY’s March Premium Auction, which runs through early April.
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