unknown autograph
 

I'm a baseball fan from th UK. Signed balls are quite hard to come across over here but there's one for sale at the moment but the person selling doesn't know who. The only info he has is that he got it from a sports authority in Boston in 1998. Any help would be grateful appreciated.

Believe that's an earlier Tom Gordon.

IMHO, you don't want this ball, no matter who it is. It's a crappy grease ball, and that foxing to the sig that you see is only going to get worse, until the sig fades away completely.

Ken

Definitely Tom Gordon.

Tom C

Ken, I have a ball that was signed in 1972 by members of the Giants, then in 1973 by the Phillies, with two different pens. The Giant sigs look like the OP's Gordon, but the Phillies are crystal clear. The Giant sigs started getting that smudgy halo effect after a few years and it has never gotten worse. I always thought it was because of the pen.

See 'Elias Sosa' at top of ball (only pics I have at the moment).

Tom Gordon it is....
 

As Derek pointed out it is 100% Tom Gordon and legit. I sometimes agree about varying types of baseballs to get sigs on but in this case, if it is "cheap" under $15 to $20 US then its an ok deal. Tom Gordon's auto is pretty cool. Not rare but still cool.

Good luck from across the pond,

peace, mike

Clarification
 

Just a quick note: Sigs that show this halo effect do NOT always disappear. I also have some from 30 years ago like this that have basically stopped bleeding. I keep them out of light and in a temp controlled environment. Some do and some don't but to tell someone not to buy something because of that is a bit of a stretch. Especially on a cheaper item like this. Thanks, IMO,

peace,mike

Thanks for all the help guys, really do appreciate your time. Glad i found this forum.