Ok, first off I am not even close to a game used/equipment used expert and I had either never heard of tony cocchi or just forgot about him. Anyway, it took all of 30 seconds on the internet to dig up some disturbing stories about him and bogus memorabilia. Now, does that mean it's true, well no, not necessarily, but it raises that damn red flag enough to start looking a bit deeper. First off, there have been many stories over the years about some piece of memorabilia or another that was given to a bar owner near a stadium. Most of the stories are true, it's just whether or not the piece of memorabilia that's being sold was actually THAT piece of memorabilia. There are quite a few newspaper stories about Mccuddy's (which closed in 1988) and even a Youtube video with the owner/decendent. I only looked at a handful, hoping there was a mention of your ball, but I didn't find any...you may want to do a more thorough look. My main concern about Mr. Cocchi's story, is the time frame when he purchased it. I find it hard to believe the bar would sell off stuff in the 70's, but it's always possible. Bars like that are an institution and the photos and memorabilia are a huge drawing card. Again, more legwork would be in order.
Bottom line is, you may be able to find some evidence with some hard work, but you may hit a dead end.
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