Reach baseball ball question

[Archive]

Posted By: Rob

Hi guys, a friend of mine had a grandfather - born in 1914 - who played amatuer ball in Massachusetts - George Wiliam "Bill" Burns. My friend found an old scrapbook of his grandfathers from the '30s that had boxscores + photos from just about every game he played. He seemed to be a pretty good 2B and I think in the late 30s tried out for the St Louis Cardinals and made a few cuts but didn't make it all the way.

Anyway, he also found some baseballs along with his grandfathers stuff, one of which is signed by Walter Johnson. It looks to be on an unused Reach baseball with the multi-color stitching and is still in the original Reach box. So two questions ...

1) Can you please point me to some websites that shows Reach balls and what the boxes looked like, so we can try to see what year it may be from?

2) Whats a good way to store the ball - either for display and non-display options. Whats a reputable place to buy quality ball-holders that are UV protected etc.

thanks guys, I'm clueless when it comes to memorabilia so I knew ya'll would have some good ideas. He hasn't taken any pics of the ball, but if I can get some pics I'll post them. The ball is really clean and it'd be great if we could somehow put a year on it.

Rob

[Archive]

Posted By: Brock G.

I cant help you with #1 but for a good display I would say that Steiner's baseball display cases are the best. Look really nice and UV protectant.

http://www.steinersports.com/ssm/control/product/~pid=CASEBAUSIO000

[Archive]

Posted By: Dan Bretta

Rob, is the ball a Major League baseball or is it a "plain" Reach baseball? If it's major league it should have the name of the AL President on the ball...if it's a plain baseball it could be a bit tougher to date, but it's most certainly pre 1940 since even the minor leagues had stopped using the multi-color stitched baseball at that point.

If you can't post a pic can you tell us what color the box is?

[Archive]

Posted By: barrysloate

The 1910 Reach Guide lists the red and blue stitched ball as their top of the line model. That's the only Reach Guide I have, and I'm sure this ball was in production for some period of time.

[Archive]

Posted By: davidcycleback

You can buy the booklet/pamphlet 'Vintage Base Balls' which is a nice history/identification guide to baseballs-- though I don't promise apply to your specific ball. Even if it doesn't it's a good and informative guide on baseballs, 19th century styles to modern. I believe it has a rarity/price chart too. You can buy it at the co-author Joe Phillips' web site http://www.glovecollector.com. I also recommend Phillips' quarterly 'The Glove Collecter' print newsletter about collecting store model gloves, for those interested in that area. Phillips is recognized as one one of the top baseball glove experts/historians in the hobby and, interestingly, used to work for of the sports card manufacturers.

[tiger8mush]

sorry for pulling this out of the archives - I know its been a little while (4 years isn't that long is it? haha) but I got some pics of the baseball when I went to my buddy's house tonight. Any info that can be provided is much appreciated! (sorry for the glare on some of the pics)

Rob

[mcgwirecom]

Brandon is a board member who wrote a book on baseballs, when he sees it he will know the year.

[tiger8mush]

Originally Posted by mcgwirecom

Brandon is a board member who wrote a book on baseballs, when he sees it he will know the year.

Would be happy to hear from Brandon if he has any info!

Rob

[MGHPro]

WOW- Thats an amazing ball. I would get that into a UV case ASAP before the tissue paper decides to stain the ball.
Matt

[cottnat]

Sweet baseball! Any collector would love to have that in their collection. Nice find.

[BrandonG]

Hey guys, sorry for the delay, just didn't see the thread. This is a very nice baseball, and a hard specimen to find. It dates to about 1925-1929 in production.

[mcgwirecom]

There he is! Brandon, I sent you a PM about this thread. Didn't you get it?

Randall

[BrandonG]

Originally Posted by mcgwirecom

There he is! Brandon, I sent you a PM about this thread. Didn't you get it?

Randall

Yeah, just before I responded to the thread. Don't know how I missed either of them. Guess a lot happens in a week, I need to show up more! Darn flu caught up with me too, kept me out of the office for a couple of days. Did you ever see my PM about your PSA tickets that were mis-labeled?

[mcgwirecom]

No I didn't. I looked in the archives and didn't see anything.

[tiger8mush]

Reviving an old thread to say thanks to those who helped give information about it. The ball is now for sale.

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...55#post1923655

Rob

[tiger8mush]

Who would you guys recommend consigning this Walter Johnson autographed ball to? I'm not familiar with the memorabilia side, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
Rob

tiger8mush@yahoo.com