Hundreds of autographed baseballs–all from the same collection—are now being offered in an auction being conducted through Chicago-based Hindman.
The Having a Ball Auction features over 570 lots of individual and multi-signed baseballs from throughout baseball history. Among them are those penned by Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente and some tough to find Hall of Famers.
“This is one of the most thorough and exciting collections we have presented at auction,” stated James Smith, Hindman’s Director of Sports Memorabilia.
The End of An Era
The highlight of the auction is expected to be a team signed 1934 New York Yankee ball.
1934 marked the end of the first of many great eras in Yankee baseball history. The season itself wasn’t a particularly memorable one, with the Bronx Bombers finishing seven games out of first in a distant second place, but it would be the last season Babe Ruth played in pinstripes. At 39 years old, the once legendary Ruth was starting to see a significant slip in performance and Ruth, for his part, was attempting to transition into a managerial role. The Yankees were interested in appeasing Ruth’s interest in managing but only in its minor league system. After the season ended, Ruth jumped at what he believed to be an offer be a player-coach with the struggling Boston Braves in the National League, but in actuality was little more than a publicity stunt. Ruth would retire halfway through the 1935 season.
The ball is signed by the 1934 Yankees team including Ruth’s legendary teammate Lou Gehrig and future Hall of Famers Earle Combs, Tony Lazzeri, Bill Dickey, Lefty Gomez, and Red Ruffing. The lot comes with PSA and Beckett Authentication Services letters of authenticity.
Deadball Figures
From the earliest days of Major League Baseball comes a ball signed by a number of notable baseball and baseball-adjacent figures, most notably Cy Young, Larry Lajoie, and Kennesaw “Mountain” Landis, the first commissioner in baseball history).
While the exact circumstances of how the ball came to be signed by so many varied individuals is unclear, the inclusions of the signatures of Mrs. Christy Mathewson and Mrs. John J. McGraw, make it a highly unusual piece. The ball is sold with a Beckett Authentication Services letter of authenticity.
Other Notable Lots
Among the better team signed baseballs in the auction is a higher grade 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers ball including Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese and other members of the borough’s lone championship team.
Other stars of the sale include a ball signed by Walter Johnson and two other unidentified subjects, signed team balls from the 1930 and 1932 Philadelphia Athletics including Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, Lefty Grove and Eddie Collins, a 1957 Milwaukee Braves World Series championship ball, a 1972 National League All-Star team ball including Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron and numerous other Hall of Famers along with other team signed balls from the 1940s and up.
Bidding for the Having a Ball timed online auction is available now simultaneously on Hindman’s website and Live Auctioneers with lots beginning to close on November 29. Lots will begin to close at 9 AM CT on November 29 with Lot 1 closing at the stroke of 9:00 and each subsequent lot closing one minute apart from then. If a bid is entered less than a minute before a lot is set to close, bidding will be extended five minutes to allow for competing bidders to respond. Extended bidding will not affect the closing time of other lots.
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