Signed Ruth Ball question

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Posted By: Jamie

I have a Ruth Ball I am looking to sell. A guy I know told me he tought it would be worth around 7K, I was offered 6K for it. Just wondering if anyone could help me place a value on this ball... and if 6K is a good price to sell it...I am the third owner and I have full history dating this ball back to the exact day it was signed... any help is greatly appreciated:

The ball has an inscription of "Enterprise Studios 5-7-48" on it. Which is 3 months before babe died. I asked the guy who sold me the ball where he got it from. He explained it was his fathers ball and his father got it from a guy who worked directly for Enterprise Studios who originally had the ball signed.

So I did some research on my end to find out what enterprise studios was all about and looked up Ruths autobiography to find out if Babe was out in California during the date on the ball. The findings were surprising. Enterprise Studios was behind a movie called "The Babe Ruth Story" released in 1948. According to my research Babe flew out to California in spring 1948 for the movie as he was a "technical advisor" on the set. The ball I have is dated May 7th 1948.

Check out the article for yourself. I will post the link right below this quote from it. The quote is under the section TRAVELING AGAIN

"Babe went to Florida for spring training in 1948 and met with Joe McCarthy, Ted Williams, and others, but he looked worse than ever. He said he felt 90 years old on his 53rd birthday; he was soon back in New York. His next major trip was to Hollywood, where he was billed as the technical advisor for the film version of The Babe Ruth Story, which was then being rushed through production to beat the inevitable. The Ruths wound up never seeing any of the scenes being filmed, and the Babe's "advising" consisted of posing for pictures showing star William Bendix how to hold a bat. It was just as well; Bendix obviously wasn't a very good student, and the picture was a cliché-ridden travesty.On Sunday, June 6, a tanned and emaciated Ruth gave a copy of the completed manuscript for The Babe Ruth Story to Yale University baseball captain George Bush, who couldn't foresee that photographs of the moment would be used during his successful presidential campaign 40 years later. "

Link to the article:

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/babe-ruth43.htm

Based on all of this information, Babe was in Florida for spring training which is around March/April of 1948 and his next major trip was out to California. The date of May 7th 1948 coincides with this article. It puts Ruth in California at Enterprise Studios for the making of The Babe Ruth Story soon after March/April of 1948 and before June 6th 1948 when he handed a copy of the script to President Bush.

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Posted By: David Atkatz

$6k is a very good price for a Ruth ball with that weak a signature.

I'd jump on it.

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Posted By: Jamie

the buyer just changed his offer to $5,000 claiming that he doesnt have enough cash for 6K.. is that more what its worth.. I was under the impression that I could get alot of buyers at 5K. am I off on this?

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Posted By: David Atkatz

It's not a great ball, Jamie. It's been up on eBay for almost four days, and you've gotten only that one offer--which was retracted.

I'd take the $5k.

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Posted By: Jamie

I understand that there are many cleaner bolder Babe ruth signed balls out there.. but they also go between 10-40K. This is still a single signed babe ruth ball on the sweet spot, dated on the day he signed it. That alone I thought would put this ball at the 5K range. so selling it at that price I would consider fair but not outstanding for the seller.

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Posted By: David Atkatz

Dated, yes. But not by Ruth.

Why do you feel that a mediocre ball should command an outstanding price?

Please forgive my frankness, but that's not really a $5k ball. Be happy with that offer. I seriously doubt you'll receive a better one.

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Yes, take the money and run. The market on Ruth is soft, aside from really mesmerizing, unique items. The $5K offer is great. Out of principle, if the prospective buyer balks and offers you yet another lower figure, hold your ground. There are too many people who like to play games, and to see how much of a beating you're willing to take. Just kindly let him know you already accepted his $5K offer.

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Posted By: Jamie

Well I took your advice so thanks.. I thought sweet spot single signed babe balls were worth at least 4-5K..
anyway thanks for your help