Jordan, Ruth, Brady, Gretzky “GOATS” signed page

[perezfan]

I know I'm late to the party, but I do not like the Ruth either. Upon immediate glance it seems alarmingly "off".

And rather than have Messi vertically scribble a large portion of his name completely off of the paper, I'd have gotten Jack Nicklaus to sign it (horizontally like the others). The soccer sig looks like modern pig slop and does not even fit with the others (either in terms of aesthetics or the sport itself).

Just my .02

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by perezfan

I know I'm late to the party, but I do not like the Ruth either. Upon immediate glance it seems alarmingly "off".

And rather than have Messi vertically scribble a large portion of his name completely off of the paper, I'd have gotten Jack Nicklaus to sign it (horizontally like the others). The soccer sig looks like modern pig slop and does not even fit with the others (either in terms of aesthetics or the sport itself).

Just my .02

I'd be right there with you regarding the Ruth, but as mentioned, won't make judgement without having the piece in hand. Steve has examined more Ruths than most people, so if there is something about this thing that he feels can be defended, that tells me not to risk having to backtrack by taking a stance on it based purely on photos. I don't think anybody worth their salt would stick their neck out to defend such a piece unless they're privy to something we can not see. Until I hold this piece, I feel forced into neutrality, which I consider the best option for time being. Additionally, I would be interested and enjoy seeing the rest of the signed pages from that autograph book.

Now, as to the choice of players to add (or have added), the article that was cut and pasted in an earlier post explains the owner's goal of keeping this item to players on team sports. Otherwise, Nicklaus would be a natural selection. I might actually opt to put Tiger on that piece as opposed to Nicklaus, however. My reasoning is due to his being more contemporaneous to the other modern athletes on the page. Nicklaus just doesn't fit with those younger guys, although the 6 Masters titles certainly do! I dislike Tiger Woods, but also am not big on Brady, so might as well keep that theme going! And, love him or hate him, Tiger has one heck of an autograph, especially for someone of his age. He also seems very exacting with his signature placement in addition to its formation. Nicklaus is also very careful in that regard, but his autograph never did anything for me. There's no aesthetic appeal whatsoever in regard to its formation. A far cry from Lionel Messy's pathetic, angry primate scribble, but still... It's just blase and very flat, especially for someone from his generation. Then again, as much as I dislike his autograph, who doesn't love Jack the golfer and Jack the class act? It would be quite the decision to have to make! (Clearly, an easier decision for you, Mark, and I wholeheartedly understand your reasoning and certainly don't disagree!)

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

...come to think of it, I suppose there's career crossover between Nicklaus, Jordan and Gretzky, but I have simply never viewed them as contemporaries in my mind, obviously due to the 20+ year age gap.