Autographed Baseball

[kufram]

I played a lot of baseball over here in UK the 80s and 90s with guys a lot younger than me, won a few division II titles and was on a division I champ one year. I had a lot of fun.

My team manager was in the UK organization (BBF) and went to conventions, etc. One, in Japan, had some mlb ex-players attending. He brought me back a ball with a bunch of signatures. It's been in a box for a long time. The names on it are:

Bill Matlock
Manny Sanguillan
John Montifusco
Tippy Martinez
Ronnie Stennett
Ozzie Virgil Jr.
Orlando Cepeda
Julio Cruz
Steve Yeager
Wally Yonamini
Harmon Killebrew
Cesar Cedeno
Bert Campaneris
Mike Torrez
Minnie Minoso
Roy White
Sadahuru Oh
Duke Snider
Jim Mudcat Grant
Jay Johnston
Ed Kranepool
Doc Ellis

I'm not sure what to do with it. Leave it in the box for my daughter to find when I'm gone?? I didn't think I should post on WSI, but I'm looking for a starting point. Some of the names are significant to me, others not so much. An eclectic group in any case.

I have looked online but didn't see anything quite like it. I would like to know if it is significant so if anyone has any ideas where I might start to find out if it is of value, for my daughter's sake as I just like having it, I'd appreciate hearing them. If not, I apologize for bothering you.

Here's hoping the offense wakes up and we have more fun with the White Sox than recently!

[BainesHOF]

I hate to break the news to you, but the ball is not worth very much. I"m guessing you'd be lucky to get $100 for it. While there are some great names on it, collectors prefer single-signed balls, team balls or a group of signatures built around a theme, i.e. Hall of Famers. The truth is the ball would be more desirable if it was only signed by Killebrew, Snider or Oh.

If you're looking to sell it, I'd recommend Craigslist first at a set price. You might as well ask for, say, $300 for starters and see if you get any takers. You never know, beauty can be in the eye of the beholder. If you put it on eBay you'll probably get what it's worth, whatever that may be.

[Mr. Jinx]

Without having any sort of proof that the sigs are actually real, I would venture a guess that ball is worthless.

[BainesHOF]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jinx

Without having any sort of proof that the sigs are actually real, I would venture a guess that ball is worthless.

Nobody's going to forge a ball like that. I don't even have to see it to know it's real.

[Mr. Jinx]

Originally Posted by BainesHOF

Nobody's going to forge a ball like that. I don't even have to see it to know it's real.

Okay. So as long as I pick a completely random assortment of players everything is fine then? The mere fact that it is so out there would make me suspicious (and no I am not suggesting it is a forgery, but I can very easily understand why people would think so).

[kufram]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jinx

Without having any sort of proof that the sigs are actually real, I would venture a guess that ball is worthless.

Thank you for your cynicism. Really useful.

[kufram]

Originally Posted by BainesHOF

Nobody's going to forge a ball like that. I don't even have to see it to know it's real.

I used the word significant rather than valuable for a reason. As if I or my coach or anyone else would sit down and practice over 20 signatures, some quite obscure, to create a forgery.

I found it a few months ago and it has sat on my desk and I was guessing at a lot of the names and I like holding it. I recognized Oh, Killebrew (a great hitter), Snider, Minoso, Campaneris and a few others. But last week, in another box for some reason, I found the list that came with the ball. Now they are easily identified. I will give it away one day hopefully to someone who might get the same feeling I get when I hold it... a connection to some players from the past. Perhaps the only connection between all of these guys is that they were all in Japan in 1989. I'm not a collector and I don't really like pristine things kept in sealed glass containers.

I also have an 1865 Lincoln penny I found in my English house some years back. It is very worn but you can see the date. Worthless to a collector but it is in my valuables box. When I look at it I think about the era and who could have held it, spent it, or left it in a house in England.

[keloms]

Originally Posted by kufram

Thank you for your cynicism. Really useful.

Unfortunately, it likely is the truth unless you find a trusting personal collector as the ball probably wouldn't even be allowed on eBay since they require authentication for most signed memorabilia.

To obtain any monetary value, you'd probably have to have it authenticated by one of the big authentication houses at a minimum of $150 given all those signatures and there's a chance that it wouldn't even be worth that.

[keloms]

Now that I think about it more, a good person to check with would be Mr Mint who's a big sports memorabilia collector.

His site is at http://www.mrmint.com/ and he goes from show to show buying memorabilia. One of the recurring segments on WGN Radio during the morning show is him calling in and providing phone valuations of the callers items. You can contact him by clicking on the "Ask Mr Mint" link.

[kufram]

Originally Posted by keloms

Now that I think about it more, a good person to check with would be Mr Mint who's a big sports memorabilia collector.

His site is at http://www.mrmint.com/ and he goes from show to show buying memorabilia. One of the recurring segments on WGN Radio during the morning show is him calling in and providing phone valuations of the callers items. You can contact him by clicking on the "Ask Mr Mint" link.

Thank you, I might try that. I didn't make myself clear. Monetary value is really not important to me. I have things of real value that I don't find nearly as interesting.

[October26]

Originally Posted by kufram

I played a lot of baseball over here in UK the 80s and 90s with guys a lot younger than me, won a few division II titles and was on a division I champ one year. I had a lot of fun.

My team manager was in the UK organization (BBF) and went to conventions, etc. One, in Japan, had some mlb ex-players attending. He brought me back a ball with a bunch of signatures. It's been in a box for a long time. The names on it are:

Bill Matlock
Manny Sanguillan
John Montifusco
Tippy Martinez
Ronnie Stennett
Ozzie Virgil Jr.
Orlando Cepeda
Julio Cruz
Steve Yeager
Wally Yonamini
Harmon Killebrew
Cesar Cedeno
Bert Campaneris
Mike Torrez
Minnie Minoso
Roy White
Sadahuru Oh
Duke Snider
Jim Mudcat Grant
Jay Johnston
Ed Kranepool
Doc Ellis

I'm not sure what to do with it. Leave it in the box for my daughter to find when I'm gone?? I didn't think I should post on WSI, but I'm looking for a starting point. Some of the names are significant to me, others not so much. An eclectic group in any case.

I have looked online but didn't see anything quite like it. I would like to know if it is significant so if anyone has any ideas where I might start to find out if it is of value, for my daughter's sake as I just like having it, I'd appreciate hearing them. If not, I apologize for bothering you.

Here's hoping the offense wakes up and we have more fun with the White Sox than recently!

Interesting post. Glad to hear about your baseball playing days and that you had fun. And thanks for reminding me that baseball is a game meant to be enjoyed. Watching our Sox play this past week has not been fun, that is for sure. I, too, hope the Sox offense wakes up soon.

As for the value of the ball, I would not know where to begin to get it appraised. Those are some very cool signatures on the ball, though. I hope you find the information you are looking for and I wish you the very best of luck with this endeavor!

[Mr. Jinx]

Originally Posted by kufram

Thank you for your cynicism. Really useful.

You asked what sort of value the ball would have. Sorry that you don't like the answer but it is the truth. From a financial perspective the ball has little value.

[Wedema]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jinx

You asked what sort of value the ball would have. Sorry that you don't like the answer but it is the truth. From a financial perspective the ball has little value.

Agreed- the ball has little value. A ball with that many signatures has to be a team ball from a World Series championship team (with the manager on the sweet spot) or a theme (Hall of Famers, 500 homeruns, etc.) to have any value. You don't want Julio Cruz to sign the same ball as Harmon Killebrew.

[kufram]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jinx

You asked what sort of value the ball would have. Sorry that you don't like the answer but it is the truth. From a financial perspective the ball has little value.

I was referring to your cynicism about its authenticity.

[Mr. Jinx]

Originally Posted by kufram

I was referring to your cynicism about its authenticity.

Oh come on. I have no reason to believe you would make up a story like this, but that has nothing to do with the value of the ball. If you just met some guy on the street selling that exact same ball, are you just going to give him/her the benefit of the doubt, assume it is real, and fork over a ton of cash for it if you were into collecting autographs?