News
Rare baseball signed by Ruth, Gehrig and Mathewson up for bid in sports/music auction
Baseballs signed by Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Christy Mathewson have sold for tens of thousands of dollars in recent years, with Ruth-signed balls topping $100,000.
Now a ball signed by all three of the baseball legends is up for bid at Gotta Have Rock and Roll.
The auction house, which sells music and sports memorabilia, estimates the ball could sell for $300,000-$500,000. The minimum bid is $200,000 in The Rock & Roll, Pop Culture and Sports Auction, which opened Aug. 11 and closes Friday, Aug. 20.
The ball — an Official National League Baseball — is the only known ball signed by all three baseball Hall of Famers. It was signed using a steel-tip fountain pen. Though the Ruth autograph is a bit faded, the Mathewson and Gehrig signatures are “of exceptional quality.” The ball comes with a Letter of Authenticity from James Spence Authentication (JSA) and a Gotta Have Rock and Roll COA.
“This is the most impressive signed baseball we have ever seen coming up for public auction,” Gotta Have Rock & Roll President Dylan Kosinski said. “The ball was signed for the current consignor's grandparents and was eventually passed down to him. It was signed individually by Ruth, Gehrig and Matthewson on different occasions. This is a one-of-a-kind baseball, there is only one of them in existence, so whoever wins it will have the only one.”
Among other high-end sports memorabilia in the auction is a 2003-04 LeBron James SP Authentic Exquisite Endorsements Rookie Auto 1/1 card graded PSA Authentic with an auto grade of 9. The card has a current bid of $259,378 and is expected to approach $1 million.
Another one of the most unique pieces of sports memorabilia in the auction is a Shoeless Joe Jackson owned and handwritten notebook. The item is rare and unique because Jackson was widely known to be illiterate and often had his wife sign autographs for him. The notebook, which has been authenticated by Beckett and Gotta Have Rock & Roll, features some calculations and notes penned by Jackson.
The auction also features a signed and match-worn jersey from Pele’s last national soccer game for Brazil in 1976; Kobe Bryant signed and game-worn sneakers from his debut in 1996; a Babe Ruth New York Yankees uniform from the 1940s; and an Emmitt Smith signed and game-worn jersey from 1990-91.
Jeff Owens is the editor of SCD.
