Ruth and Gehrig Balls - Authentic?

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by pscolgrafs

This is one of my favorites. Kind of like ordering a cake over the phone:

"Hello"
"Yes, I would like to make an order." says the women.
"Okay, what would you like?"
"I would like to order an autographed Babe Ruth baseball."
"That is our best seller. Would you like to add an inscription or personalization? Home Run King? Date of the year of the shot? Great Bambino? George Herman Ruth? Lover of Easy Women? Babe Ruth #714? I Didn't Mean To Eat All Of Those Hot Dogs? There
is a slight surcharge."
"No thank you."
"Would you like to add another signature? We offer a discount for multiple signatures added.
We can add anyone within their lifetime. Lou Gehrig is very popular, but we will add anyone."
"Wait, my son loves math, can you add Albert Einstein below the Ruth signature?"
"We can do that. Anything else?"
"Can Einstein add E=MC2?"
"No problem."
"And can you get Babe to sign it "Hitting=Homers2? I think he will love it!"
"I think he will. We have never done a ball like this. This is very unique and truly one of a kind. Anything else? We offer a free dating service if interested."
"I'm flattered, but I am married"
"No, we date the balls with specific dates. It's our calling card. Like a grandfather's date of birth or the date the Titanic sank or something like that. It tells the customers that the item could have been signed that day, unlike balls that are not dated which may appear suspicious to collectors."
She thinks about this for a minute.
"When is grand papa's birthday?" she screams into another room.
"January 8, 1938'
"Great! He will love it! Anything else?"
"No, I think that will be all."
"It will be ready by Wednesday if you want to pick it up."
"Great, see you there!"

That's both incredibly sad and hysterically funny at the same time.
I have to admit that I almost spit out my sip of coffee while reading your post.

[tinkereversandme]

One of the funniest things I have read in a long time. Great job Pscol! I suppose a large majority of the people here are in the know but it doesn't necessarily mean that everyone knows and it should not be assumed even if it protects one possible buyer from making a mistake. I am sure some sort of law enforcement has been notified of this or read this forum and it gives them a start. I personally find these Coach's Corner threads amusing and they often get attacked but honestly in searches they come up and there is some hope for me at least that justice will be served. Honestly, when it comes to this business you really have to ask yourself what the purpose was of those busts if they would ignore this collecting sector for the future. I realize the world has problems and resources are not available to focus on forgers and distributors but it is still a crime and this is a problem and by viewing the above, how can you ignore this anymore? This thread is great but I think I can point a view eye balls in the direction of someone who may care about this and essentially all you need to do is find one guy who is as outraged as we all are. Great work Pscol!

Regards,

Larry

[VAYankee]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

That's both incredibly sad and hysterically funny at the same time.
I have to admit that I almost spit out my sip of coffee while reading your post.

Reading through the pretend dialogue was funny enough, it's when I saw the picture that followed was when I lost it!!

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

That's both incredibly sad and hysterically funny at the same time.
I have to admit that I almost spit out my sip of coffee while reading your post.

He is a funny boy.
.

[VAYankee]

So I'm curious as to who people believe is/are the best auction house(s). Heritage I'd assume is one, Lelands? SCP? Hunt? Legendary? RR? Grey Flannel?

[Klrdds]

I have bought and buy from those AHs you listed and others as well. I believe that people develop AH loyalty as they develop dealer loyalty for the most part . I believe it becomes personal preference in most cases. Obviously product selection, specialty offerings , fast shipping, conflict resolution, and buyer's premium also are in the mix, as well as the important one of reputation ( no shill bidding, etc...).

[VAYankee]

Any thoughts about outfits like Huggins and Scott? I noticed they posted on this forum about their upcoming auction.

[Sophiedog]

Originally Posted by VAYankee

So I'm curious as to who people believe is/are the best auction house(s). Heritage I'd assume is one, Lelands? SCP? Hunt? Legendary? RR? Grey Flannel?

I've dealt with SCP and Hunt and always had good results

[VAYankee]

So I started sending the emails from JDE to a special folder, and it's amazing how much stuff these guys are peddling. Over the weekend, I asked how did this consignor come to acquire so many balls from Halper - this was a classic response, "Ralph did talk to the seller of these bb’s. Seller did not acquire these bb’s thru an auction, according to Ralph. The current owner of these bb’s acquired them in lieu of money Halper brothers owed him. Ralph has known this seller for decades, and in fact this guy worked for Yankees eons ago. No reason, nor any kind of indication, this guy isn’t telling Ralph the truth."

So despite the Halper family business, which is still in existence today, owed this guy so money that he gave him all of these balls, which if authentic would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Good thing he gave them with COAs too.

Here are the latest balls, the first one is also out on CCA.

[earlywynnfan]

At any point of these conversations have you ever said "But why are they currently in Coach's Corner auctions?"

[VAYankee]

Probaly one of the few places they could be unloaded without questions being asked

[djson1]

Originally Posted by VAYankee

So I'm curious as to who people believe is/are the best auction house(s). Heritage I'd assume is one, Lelands? SCP? Hunt? Legendary? RR? Grey Flannel?

Just remember, even with these larger and well known auctions houses, you STILL need to be very careful. I buy from Heritage as well, but I would NEVER believe that all their items are put up there with expert knowledge. I've seen some blatant forgeries and mistakes in descriptions on their site. To their credit, they do remove items if you point it out to them and they revisit the listing. It just surprises me that some crap does get listed there in the first place though. Just recently, they listed a Lakers floor board with the description saying it was signed by Wilt Chamberlain, along with others. But Wilt didn't sign it....his name was just written on it by somebody else. They took this item off though after it was pointed out.

[VAYankee]

What about REA?

[Klrdds]

I have had good dealings with REA for many years, and they are one of the best, if not he best , AH at offering vintage material in all categories in my opinion. But again do your homework before bidding...that is the key . It is not the AH but your knowledge as well that makes a successful transaction.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Klrdds

I have had good dealings with REA for many years, and they are one of the best, if not he best , AH at offering vintage material in all categories in my opinion. But again do your homework before bidding...that is the key . It is not the AH but your knowledge as well that makes a successful transaction.

+1 to everything you just said. Regarding autographs, I have found that none of the AH's will remove an autograph unless it can be proven that it is bad and the only acceptable proof I know of is that the ball was created after the player died.

The AH's all rely on their authenticator, period. You might love an AH, but their job is to get the highest return possible for their consignor.