1929 Ruth, Gehrig & Lazzeri-signed Baseball
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APPRAISER:
You brought a 1929 baseball from a game between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees. How did you get this ball?
GUEST:
I got it from my stepdad. He and my mom married in 1971, and he showed me the baseball, and he kept it. And when he got sick and went into a nursing home, my mother gave it to me. So I've had it for the last 17, 18 years.
APPRAISER:
What's interesting is, the ball is scored. So... more interesting is that it's signed by three of the six members of the Yankees' Murderers' Row from the late 1920s. We see Babe Ruth on the sweet spot, where he should be. You got Lou Gehrig on one of the side panels. And flanking him is Tony Lazzeri.
GUEST:
Yeah, right.
APPRAISER:
So you got three Hall of Famers on one ball.
GUEST:
Right, right.
APPRAISER:
What's interesting, and the scoring shows, that the Yankees lost that game nine to eight, okay? Now, it wasn't one of their many championship years
in their long run. But, again, you've got three Hall of Famers signing the ball, all in black ink. They're not as potent as they were back then, but they're still pretty strong. They created about a five to six each, which is excellent, given the condition of the ball, given the age. How was the ball obtained? Because it was a game ball.
GUEST:
After the game, my stepdad-- he was a child, he was eight years old, his dad had taken him to the game. And they went down to the dugout, and my stepdad gave it to Babe Ruth to sign, and Babe Ruth gave it to Lou Gehrig, and presumably gave it to Tony Lazzeri to sign.
APPRAISER:
Perfect.
GUEST:
Yeah. How about that for a story? Yeah.
APPRAISER:
That's great.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Have you had any idea what the ball is worth?
GUEST:
I've seen some Babe Ruth signatures selling for as little as $800. I've seen them selling for up to $20,000. I have no idea what differentiates them, other than the quality of the ball itself.
APPRAISER:
Okay. Well, you have, with Babe Ruth, Lazzeri, and Gehrig.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
So it's not just a Ruth ball, and the story is great. At auction, we estimate this ball could sell for $25,000. You could insure it for $35,000.
GUEST:
Wow, that's... That's, that's even more than I had thought. I've been thinking this ball was really worth $1,000.
APPRAISER:
A little more than that.
GUEST:
A little more than that, wow.
Appraisal Details
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