• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
    • Advertise with SC Daily
    • Write for Sports Collectors Daily
    • Write About Your Sports Collection
    • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?
  • Hot on eBay
    • Most Watched Graded Rookies
    • Most Watched PSA 10 Cards
    • Most Watched BGS, BVG Cards
    • Most Watched SGC Cards
    • Most Watched CSG,CGC Cards
    • Most Watched Baseball Cards
      • Most Watched 2023 Baseball Cards
      • Most Watched 2022 Baseball Rookie Cards
      • Bowman Chrome Cards
      • Ronald Acuna Jr. Cards
      • Shohei Ohtani Cards
      • Mike Trout Cards
      • Fernando Tatis Jr. Cards
      • Babe Ruth Cards
      • Hank Aaron Cards
      • Jackie Robinson Cards:
      • Mickey Mantle Cards
      • Willie Mays Cards
      • Vintage Baseball Card Sets
      • T206 Cards
    • Most Watched Basketball
      • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2022-23 NBA Rookie Cards
      • Victor Wembanyama Cards
      • Michael Jordan Cards
      • Kobe Bryant Cards
      • LeBron James Rookie Cards
      • Nikola Jokic Rookie Cards
      • Giannis Antetokounmpo Cards
      • Luka Doncic Rookie Cards
      • Prizm Basketball Cards
      • Panini National Treasures
    • Most Watched Football Cards
      • Most Watched NFL Rookie Cards
      • 2023 NFL Rookie Cards
        • CJ Stroud Cards
      • 2022 NFL Rookie Cards
        • Brock Purdy Rookie Cards
      • 2021 NFL Rookie Cards
      • 2020 NFL Rookie Cards
        • Joe Burrow Rookie Cards
        • Justin Herbert Rookie Cards
        • Jalen Hurts Rookie Cards
      • Josh Allen Rookie Cards
      • Patrick Mahomes Rookie Cards
      • Tom Brady Cards
    • Most Watched Hockey Cards
      • Top 100 Most Watched Hockey Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2021-22 NHL Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2020-21 Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2019-20 Rookie Cards
      • Connor McDavid Cards
      • Wayne Gretzky Cards
      • Bobby Orr Cards
    • Most Watched Soccer Cards
    • Most Watched UFC Cards
    • Most Watched Golf Cards
    • Most Watched 1 of 1 Cards
    • Most Watched Topps SuperFractors
    • Most Watched Racing Cards
    • Top Sports Card Dealers on eBay
    • Most Watched Memorabilia
      • Vintage Sports Memorabilia
      • Vintage Sports Tickets, Stubs
      • Most Watched Autographs
  • Ending Soon on Ebay
    • Baseball Cards
    • Basketball Cards
    • Football Cards
    • Hockey Cards
    • Soccer Cards
    • Golf Cards
    • UFC Cards
  • Top - Ad

Sports Collectors Daily

Sports Collectors Daily

Sports collecting news - Sports cards and sports memorabilia industry news.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.com.

  • Sports Memorabilia News
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
      • New Sports Card Release Calendar
      • Shop Talk
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Affordable Vintage Cards, Collectibles
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
      • Old Hockey Card Sets
      • Vintage Pack Facts
  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • Around The Hobby
    • Editor’s Blog
    • David Cycleback’s Identification and Authentication Advice
  • Popular Stories
  • Sell Your Cards
You are here: Home / Sports Memorabilia News / “Babe Ruth Signed My World Series Program”: Childhood Prize Heading to Auction

“Babe Ruth Signed My World Series Program”: Childhood Prize Heading to Auction

May 22, 2020 By Bob D'Angelo

It was a dream come true for a 12-year-old boy. Not only did Michael Cipollaro attend a World Series game at Ebbets Field, he also got Babe Ruth to autograph his game program.

That 48-page, 50-cent program from the 1947 World Series featured the Brooklyn Bridge on the cover, as the Brooklyn Dodgers were hosting the New York Yankees. The cover also contained a collage of photographs, including downtown Brooklyn, a church (after all, Brooklyn was known as the borough of churches) and Ebbets Field. Inside, on the scorecard page, was a clear, large autograph of the Bambino inside. That autograph — and that program — will be part of a Memory Lane auction this summer.

Cipollaro attended one of the three games played in Brooklyn with his father, noted Manhattan dermatologist Anthony Cipollaro.

Michael Cipollaro holds the 1947 World Series program that Babe Ruth signed for him at Ebbets Field.

Now 84, Cipollaro does not recall which game he attended. Games 3 and 4 of the 1947 World Series were won by the Dodgers. Game 4 was memorable because New York pitcher Bill Bevens came within an out of pitching the first no-hitter in World Series history, only to lose on Cookie Lavagetto’s double off the right-field wall in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Ruth attended multiple World Series games that year and can be seen in newsreels, sitting in the stands.

Game 5 was played on a Saturday, and the Yankees won 2-1. Cipollaro believes this may have been the game he attended.

“My father was a doctor, and a very busy one,” Cipollaro said from his Houston home, reasoning that getting time off for a Thursday or Friday game was unlikely, especially since the World Series was played during the daytime in those days.

Just before the World Series game began that day at Ebbets Field, Cipollaro, sitting 20 rows behind home plate, looked over his shoulder and saw the unmistakable figure of Ruth.

“It was before the game started but the place was already full. Excitingly full,” Cipollaro said. “I turned around and there was an elevated portion and he was in the front row.

“I asked my dad, do you think I could go get his autograph and he said, ‘Sure,’” Cipollaro said. “So I went and asked, ‘Mr. Ruth, can I get your autograph?’

“Well, he had that deep voice and growled, ‘Sure, kid,’ and signed it.”

The program had two pages set aside in the middle of the magazine for keeping score, and Ruth signed on the right-hand side. The page had a pair of advertisements for Chesterfield cigarettes.

Ruth had been having some physical issues and had less than a year to live, but Cipollaro did not notice.

“He didn’t look wan or pale but he was wearing a heavy coat so it was hard to tell,” he said.

Babe Ruth shakes hands with a young Yogi Berra in 1947.

It was the highlight of Cipollaro’s day. He did not have a stake in either team at Ebbets Field.

“I was a Giants fan,” he said. “I hated the Dodgers and didn’t like the Yankees. I’m still a San Francisco Giants fan.”

But when you get a chance to attend a World Series game, you do it. And Cipollaro’s father had the connections to get into the stadium.

“Dad had a lot of patients, and they would take care of him, you know, like, ‘Do you want tickets to the game?’”

After living on Riverside Drive during the early 1940s, Cipollaro’s family moved to the Lenox Hill section of Manhattan. His father worked a few blocks away at 61st Street and Park Avenue. He was a graduate of the Columbia School of Medicine and taught at the Cornell University School of Medicine. His mother, Rose, was a college geology teacher.

With that kind of pedigree, it was inevitable that Cipollaro would succeed. He was an executive for McCormick & Co. Inc., and was president of the Gerber Products Co., International division, concentrating on Europe and the Pacific rim from 1989 to 1993. He founded International Trade Assistance in 1993, and four years later created Maxima Graphics, a digital imaging company.

Cipollaro also was a professor of international business for nearly a decade at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, and was the founder and director of the school’s Center for Entrepreneurship. He finally retired from academics in 2007.

Cipollaro, who turns 85 in August, said “it’s time to declutter,” and selling the program with the Ruth autograph is a way to start.

“All of my kids were born in Europe, so soccer is their major sport,” he said. “They have no interest in this. But it’s time to sell.

“It’s fresh, and it’s from a World Series.”

Not to mention that it contains one of the most famous — and recognizable — autographs in sports.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Facebook Messenger

Related Stories:

Of 15 Cent Aaron Autographs and $1,000 Wagners: Article Features 1971 Southern California Card Show Autographed Card Collection Coming to REA Includes Near Complete Goudey Set Babe Ruth Leaf Immortals Includes Relic Cards, Cut Auto Jackie Robinson 1947 photoPhoto of the Day: Original Image From Jackie Robinson MVP Presentation Red Sox Babe Ruth panoramic team photoBabe Ruth Memorabilia Exhibit Draws Crowds at NSCC Babe Ruth Memorabilia Exhibit Coming to NSCC PSA/DNA Releases List of Most Common Autograph Forgeries First Time’s the Charm: Georgia Woman’s First Hobby Box Reveals 1/1 Babe Ruth Autograph

About Bob D'Angelo

Bob has been a sportswriter and copy editor for more than 35 years and a blogger for a decade. He is celebrating his 50th year of card collecting, and still counts his 1965 Topps Mickey Mantle as his favorite. You can reach him at [email protected].

Filed Under: Popular Stories, Sports Memorabilia News Tagged With: 1947, 1947 World Series, 1947 World Series program, Babe Ruth autograph, Babe Ruth autographs, Michael Cipollaro

Primary Sidebar

Our articles may contain affiliate links. When you click on links to merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. 

Shop Sports Cards on Ebay
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • Hockey

High End Cards and Memorabilia

  • BBCE Authenticated Boxes, Packs opens in a new window
  • Graded pre-War Card eBay Auctions
  • PWCC Premier Auction
  • PWCC Fixed Price Marketplace
  • Graded Rookie Cards on eBay opens in a new window
  • Authenticated Photos on eBay opens in a new window
  • Graded Tickets & Stubs opens in a new window

Bargain Corner

  • Michael Jordan cards $5 and less opens in a new window
  • Kobe Bryant cards $5 and less opens in a new window
  • Mickey Mantle Cards Under $150 opens in a new window
  • Graded T206 Cards Under $150 opens in a new window
  • Pre-War Cards Under $100 opens in a new window
  • Pre-1980 Graded Baseball Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Pre-1980 Graded Football Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Basketball Cards $25 and less opens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Hockey Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Complete Sets $20 and Less opens in a new window
  • Baseball Hall of Famers for $5 or Less opens in a new window
  • Football Hall of Famers for $5 or Less opens in a new window
  • Hobby Boxes Under $30 opens in a new window
  • Pre-1986 Rookie Cards Under $1 opens in a new window
  • Buy Boxes Directly from Topps opens in a new window

RSS Auction Report

  • Icons Auctions Current Auction of Soccer Autographs Ends Dec. 3, 2023
  • PWCC Weekly Sunday Auction – Ending December 3, 2023
  • Iconic Auctions Current Auction of Autographs & Memorabilia Ends December 2, 2023

Footer

Categories

  • Around the Hobby
  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • David Cycleback's Identification and Authentication Advice
  • Editor's Blog
  • Featured Articles
  • Hobby Shop Talk
  • National Sports Collectors Convention
  • Popular Stories
  • Rich Klein's Ramblings
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
      • New Sports Card Release Calendar
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
      • Old Hockey Card Sets
      • Vintage Pack Facts
  • Sports Memorabilia News
  • Uncategorized

Sponsor Links

  • Sports Card Forumopens in a new window
  • Buying Vintage Sports Cardsopens in a new window
  • Championship Rings For Saleopens in a new window
  • Autographed Baseballsopens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Baseball Cardsopens in a new window
  • Sports Collectors Storeopens in a new window

Pages

Ending on eBay Soon
  • Baseball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Basketball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Football Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Hockey Card Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
  • Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay Ending Soon
Top 100 on Ebay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Baseball Rookie Cards on eBay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Hockey Rookie Card Auctions
  • Top Authenticated Vintage Unopened Sports Card Boxes, Packs on eBay
Most Watched on eBay
  • 100 Most Watched Graded Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • 100 Most Watched Tom Brady Card Auctions on eBay
  • 50 Hottest Hobby Boxes at Auction on eBay
  • 50 Most Watched Golf Trading Cards on eBay
  • 50 Most Watched Wrestling Trading Cards on eBay
  • 75 Most Watched Bowman Chrome Cards
  • Most Popular Bobbleheads on eBay
  • Most Watched 1/1 Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Basketball Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Complete Baseball Card Sets at Auction on eBay
  • Most Watched Football Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Football Rookie Card Auctions
  • Most Watched Goudey Baseball Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Hockey Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Racing Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Soccer Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Autographs on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Jerseys on eBay
  • Most Watched Unopened Sports Card Boxes, Packs on eBay
  • Most Watched Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay
  • Hottest Panini National Treasures Cards on eBay
  • Hottest PSA 10 Cards for Sale on eBay
  • What’s Hot on eBay
Sports Memorabilia
  • Sports Card Bargain Bin
  • Sports Memorabilia Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
About Sports Collectors Daily
  • Advertise with SC Daily
  • Contact Us
  • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
Sell Your Cards
  • What’s It Worth
  • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?

Copyright © 2023 SportsCollectorsDaily.com | Web Design by Wickam Groupopens in a new window