Inside a Baseball

[perezfan]

I like the look of the one on the left a bit better. It draws more attention to the Mantle/Berra sweetspot portion, which looks good in the dead-center. Just my personal preference... If it helps with the "flattening", that might be an added plus.

The Ball is already altered, so 2 more cuts shouldn't really make a difference...

[almostdone]

I agree. The one on the left frames better and layers out the signatures better. Please continue to update. I think it's a great idea for a tough situation.
Drew

[Runscott]

Another suggestion I received was to frame the Mantle/Berra piece with a nice 1956 photo of the two of them together.

I'm leaning toward that, but I have nothing to lose by creating the one on the left first, and seeing how it looks.

[Runscott]

other options. All photos are 1956 except the one where Mantle is in the extreme foreground - that one had Maris off to the side, so was 1960s.

[Cfern023]

Why not try to resew the leather onto a cheap ball- and try to tone the "new pieces" just enough to make it less noticeable.

They are sewn together by hand any way. All it'll require is time.

[Runscott]

That was my original plan, but it's not as easy as you might think. Even if I could have done it, it would have involved sewing a blank piece of leather where a partial piece had been left by the dog, and there weren't stitch holes remaining - it would have involved glueing pieces on that included stitching on one side. In any event, it's too late for that now - I'm committed to one of the mock-ups shown above, or something similar.

[Cfern023]

Originally Posted by Runscott

That was my original plan, but it's not as easy as you might think. Even if I could have done it, it would have involved sewing a blank piece of leather where a partial piece had been left by the dog, and there weren't stitch holes remaining - it would have involved glueing pieces on that included stitching on one side. In any event, it's too late for that now - I'm committed to one of the mock-ups shown above, or something similar.

While ghetto - you might have been able to use duct tape on the inside of the leather and used an exacto knife to get the right size to sew effortlessly and make it look clean as if one piece.

Are there any other notables on the ball? If not- I'd go with the mantle and Berra piece alone. It looks clean and meant to be that way.

You could also possibly do something like this- but I like the photo ideas better.

[perezfan]

Agree.... Great idea by whoever suggested the Mantle/Berra photo.

I like the cleaner look, and would opt for either the very first or very last photo posted above. Tough choice, but those were my personal faves!

Be sure to keep us posted and best of luck!

[Lordstan]

I like the idea of just the Mantle Berra.
I created a couple mock ups for you. Too bad I can't find a cleaner copy of the first photo. I like the second one with kids as well. Out of your mock ups, I think the first one is the best, by far.

What do you think?

[djson1]

This is why you shouldn't keep your treasures near the pets!

[jbhofmann]

I'd create a custom 1956 Topps themed cut card of the SweetSpot.

It would marry the year to a card and is clean and compact.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by djson1

This is why you shouldn't keep your treasures near the pets!

That's certainly true;however, I bought this ball already massacred. The mauling might have taken place in 1957 for all I know. But I do know that the ball looked horrible chewed up - I could barely stand to look at it.

[Runscott]

Out of the blue (so to speak), my girlfriend said she like the following arrangement of colors, so it's done...for now. I chose this print partially because they both looked young and happy, which they should have been in '56, and also because they were photographed with the top of the dugout behind them - re-cropped the image to make it more Conlon-esque.

I did the work myself with existing materials, so it was free and can easily be changed at some point.

The tricky part was flattening the panel and sewing it to the matt-board - done by using transparent thread and only sewing through existing holes at the top. I only flattened as much as necessary, as the leather surface would begin to wrinkle. Used spacers to keep the leather off the glass.

Thanks for all your ideas and responses:

[perezfan]

I love that image! It looks great, Scott...

Another option (that would be attractive IMO) would be to do a second rectangular cut-out in the mat. The second cut-out would be for the leather Ball Panel below the photo.

I really think it would serve to enhance the important signed portion, and also provide symmetry. That way, the photo and Ball Panel would both be recessed.

I would do it this way, but that's just me

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by perezfan

I love that image! It looks great, Scott...

Another option (that would be attractive IMO) would be to do a second rectangular cut-out in the mat. The second cut-out would be for the leather Ball Panel below the photo.

I really think it would serve to enhance the important signed portion, and also provide symmetry. That way, the photo and Ball Panel would both be recessed.

I would do it this way, but that's just me

Mark, you and I are thinking alike - I planned to do the cut-out you describe, partially so the panel would not have to be flattened as much. Just lazy at this point and tired of working on it.

Do you think the recessed area should be the same color as the matt, lighter or darker?

Also, based on comments from another friend, I'm probably taking it back to the framer this weekend.