TRISTAR Productions, which operates the autograph pavilion at the National Sports Collectors Convention, has released dates and times for the confirmed signers at this year’s show in Cleveland August 1-5.
Over 100 current and former athletes and coaches are among those set to appear at the I-X Center.
You can see the complete schedule here, although it is subject to change.
There was virtually no city or town remote enough for Babe Ruth between baseball seasons. Constantly on the go in the off-season, the Babe once came to Duluth, MN in 1926. He came to the northern outpost on the shore of Lake Superior for a meet and greet at a local vaudeville house.
While there, he signed and personalized a baseball for a local five-year-old boy who treasured it throughout his life. The ball was passed to the man’s son after his death several years ago but now it’ll be going on display at the Duluth Depot, where several other historic artifacts reside.
You can read about the baseball and the family that is opting to turn it into a community heirloom here.
Ruth’s rookie cards–regardless of grade–continue to bring strong prices. A 1916 M101-5 Sporting News blank back with white out pasted on the upper right corner and some other issues, sold for $50,173 at Clean Sweep Auctions late Wednesday night. The card had been labeled Authentic/Altered by PSA. That’s about three times the price of the last Authentic rated Ruth rookie sold in 2009 and more than three times the price of a PSA 1 (Poor) example sold seven years ago at auction.
In the same auction, a 1933 Goudey Nap Lajoie graded PSA 3 sold for $33,444 while the remainder of the low-to-mid-grade set brought $33,733. An autographed 1964 Topps Giants Roberto Clemente went for $12,564.
The Shohei Ohtani Bowman Superfractor has been found. Pulled from a box by a northern California collector, it was discovered just days after the Topps Finest 1/1 came out of a box.
A brief, but great story about one of the final items signed by Dale Earnhardt just hours before his death at the 2001 Daytona 500—told via Twitter by Dale Jr.