Seeking help with an signed old ball from Texas

[Chris-Counts]

I recently picked up three signed balls from a seller in Texas, and two were easy to identify: 1951 Birmingham Barons and the 1951 Houston Buffalos. The Barons defeated the Buffalos in the 1951 Dixie Cup that was played between the champions of the Texas League and Southern Association. But the team represented on the third ball is a mystery to me. The players mostly seem to come from Texas, and there are some familiar names, including Tris Speaker, Tex Carleton, Del Pratt and Heinie Schuble. Max West is there, too, but the signature suggests it's another player with the same name. Can anybody tell me what team this is? I suppose it could be from some kind of charity game as well. All help is appreciated. Thanks, Chris

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

There were two MLB Max Wests. This is the other one, and it's fine.

[Chris-Counts]

That makes sense. I have several signatures from the better known Max West and they look very different.

[doug34-36]

I'm sure this is not helpful, but I like to think that the top of the second photo is Ziggy Stardust (signing good with Pratt and Heinie, and the Spiders from Mars).

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[Chris-Counts]

I just discovered that "Ziggy" is catcher Ken Sears, who split the catching duties with Bill Dickey for the New York Yankees championship team in 1943. I would have been OK with Ziggy Stardust — one of the very best 1970s rock albums — or Ziggy Marley.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Actually, Ziggy Sears was an umpire, and that's his autograph. Ken, his son, was the Yankee.