Ruth-signed items share top billing in Coach’s Cor

Babe Ruth's signature is featured on two of the top five items in the upcoming Coach's Corner Sports and Celebrity auction, which ends Nov. 9. Online and fax bidding is currently available.

One is a ball Ruth shares with Lou Gehrig, while the other is a single-signed ball. Also sharing top billing is a cut signature of President Abraham Lincoln, an autographed Beatles album and a James Dean signed 8-by-10. The auction showcases more than 3,500 items.

The lead item is a Babe Ruth-Lou Gehrig signed Ace Horsehide Pennant Trademark ball. Ruth, as usual, is on the sweet spot and Gehrig is on a side panel. The ball is in excellent condition and the signatures rate a 7.

The second item is a Dean-autographed 8-by-10 promo photo, which shows some wear and handling, and has the salutation "My Best Wishes."

The third item is an Abraham Lincoln cut measuring 2-by-5 on vintage paper. It actually is signed "A. Lincoln Executive Mansion June 1, 1862."
The fourth item is a Beatles-signed album "Meet the Beatles." All four musicians signed the album.

Meanwhile, the fifth item is a single-signed Babe Ruth signed vintage red-laced DeBeer & Son Official League ball. It is sweet-spot signed in black ink.

The auction also contains a number of important signed baseballs. Those offered this time include a Ty Cobb "Go Go Sox" baseball in black ink, a Mel Ott side-panel signed Pony League ball, a Jimmie Foxx signed official ball (also signed by Walt Dropo and Gene Woodling), a Grover Cleveland Alexander signed MacGregor ball, an Eddie Collins junior-sized ball, a Cy Young signed Spalding Official National League ball, a Gehrig side-panel single-signed TruSport baseball, a Derek Jeter-Alex Rodriguez signed Official Major League baseball, 12 Joe DiMaggio signed ScoreBoard baseballs, a Yankees ball signed by six Yankee Hall of Famers, a similar ball signed by a host of Hall of Famers and a Frank Robinson-Carl Yzastremski-Mickey Mantle signed Official AL ball.

In addition, this auction features cuts, books, photos and signed photos including a Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier signed Boxing Magazine, a Cap Anson 3-by-4-inch cut, a Lloyd Waner signed Perez-Steele postcard, a Cobb-Ruth signed newspaper page (dated April 13, 1927), a Maris and Mantle signed 8-by-10 color photo, a Gehrig cut incorporated into a 29-by-38 display and a Ruth Baseball Club membership card signed by Ruth.

Signed bats, uniforms, memorabilia and other equipment pieces include a Gehrig-signed Louisville Slugger personalized, "To Tara with kindest regards;" an A-Rod-signed Yankees jersey; a Jeter-signed 1999 World Series Yankee jersey; a Barry Sanders signed Lions jersey; a Sandy Koufax signed Mitchell & Ness Dodgers jersey; a Walter Payton signed NFL ball; and a 1952 plate sent to all players and executives in the Brooklyn Dodgers organization.

Also a Ted Williams-Mickey Mantle signed Adirondack bat, a Roger Clemens signed Red Sox jersey, a game-used 1993 Michael Strahan Giants helmet, a Mike Piazza game-used Mets Rawlings catcher's mitt and a Green Bay Packers jersey signed by 14 former Packers stars.

Card collectors will find interest in a 1970 Topps O.J. Simpson rookie card graded pristine 10, a 1979 Topps Ozzie Smith rookie card graded pristine 10, an Upper Deck relic card of a piece of Roger Maris' game-worn Yankees pants, a lot of four Babe Ruth Candy Co. cards from 1928 and a lot of 1,177 signed baseball cards from 1986-2006.

From the art and entertainment world comes a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band signed custom leather jacket, an 8-by-10 magazine page photo signed by Marilyn Monroe, a Janis Joplin signed "Cheap Thrills" album, a Frank Sinatra signed "Ol' Blue Eyes" album, a "Wizard of Oz" cast signed autograph album page, a Little Rascals signed cast photo and a Beatles signed 8-by-10.

From the history books comes a Rawlings baseball signed by the Rev. Martin Luther King, which is faded and graded in good condition, an 8-by-10 photo signed by President Ronald Reagan and Mother Theresa, a hardback book signed by Winston Churchill, a John F. Kennedy/Jacqueline Kennedy signed Christmas card, a John Gotti 3-by-4 foot piece of Stephen Kauffman artwork, a John Dillinger signed cut that appears to be the return address portion of an envelope, a 5-by-7 card signed by eight former Presidents of the US from Eisenhower to Bush Sr., an Ernest Hemmingway cut apparently from a book, a NASA Apollo 11 multi-signed 48-star vintage American flag and a Neil Armstrong single-signed baseball.

The complete auction listings appear on a 16-page advertising section (pages 44-59) inside this issue of SCD. Bids will be accepted online at ww.myccsa.com, by phone at 215-721-9162 or by mail prior to the auction date.

- Ted Taylor