Opinions on this vintage (1942) Tigers ball....
 

I'm not super familiar with the playing era signature of Gehringer - any take? Rowe looks pretty good to my eye, but I am admittedly a newbie. Is this a good buy for $150? I realize the quality is poor on some of the autos but I am primarily interested in the SS Rowe and the York.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/DETROIT-TIGERS...%257Ciid%253A4

1941, rather...

It's worth it IMO if you can live with the faded signatures.

Any thoughts on the authenticity? I only know Gehringer's auto later in life. Thanks!

Sorry I can't help ya on that. I know there are others here very knowledgeable on this era.

I think the ball looks authentic. As to the price, it isn't terrible, but without a halfway decent Greenberg it might be pushing it a bit. I would say it is definitely a fair price if there was a Greenberg of any decent quality at all. But there isn't. Also not an OAL ball. Is it a good buy at $150? probably not. Are you getting fleeced? No.

Tom C

Thanks, I appreciate it. The guy wants 175, I am probably comfortable at 125. So it may be moot.

. . .

The signatures look good to me too, although not sharp. The lack of sharpness of the signatures would be my primary concern. If I were looking to add this to my vintage Detroit Tigers autograph collection (which I am NOT !), I would not be willing to spend more than $100/$125 tops for it. Signatures just not crisp enough. As I have learned the hard way on many occasions, the signatures almost never look anywhere as good as they do in the photographs. So I would expect them to look even worse than they do in the photos. That said, if you are looking to add a vintage Detroit Tigers team signed baseball to your collection (and not looking to make a buck flipping it), $100-$125 is probably acceptable. 1941 Detroit team signed baseballs are not rare. Usually two or more seem to pop up every year in auctions & eBay. I have a couple of similarly conditioned 1941 Tiger team signed baseballs in my collection that I paid $75-$100 each, and so often, as I look them over, I wonder if I overpaid. But then I remind myself that I bought more than an autographed item; I bought a small piece of history. Thanks for sharing. Always love seeing this stuff. And good luck, regardless of whether you decide to pursue purchasing or not !!!

PS - I just recalled that I purchased a 1941 Detroit Tigers team signed baseball last December. I estimate the boldness of the signatures to range from 0-5, with most in the 2-3 range. This ball had been relisted two or three times with higher minimum bid amounts (did not sell) before seller listed with a $9.99 minimum. I purchased for $49.95 or something like that. In all honesty, I screwed up, as I had intended to bid during the previous listing (but forgot to follow through). The reason for wanting to bid previously, and actually bidding the last time for a 1941 Detroit Tigers team signed baseball with such light signatures is that one of the more readable signatures was by team owner W.O. Briggs (and not by son Spike). I have encountered very signed baseballs with the signature of this Detroit Tigers team owner. But that was the only reason I was interested in this signed ball. Once in hand, the boldness of the signatures was again less than the photos would have led one to expect. But fortunately, the Briggs signature is readable to the naked eye.