Show Your Early Baseballs

[aelefson]

Hi-
Below is a bit of a long, boring post but please feel free to post your own early baseballs!

Several years ago I found an early bat at an antique store that matches closely to one with an 1865 patent date. Ever since, early memorabilia has been one of my main focus areas. I was able to pick up a few nice bats antiquing but I never found any early baseballs. I always hoped to find an early baseball "in the wild" as opposed to winning it in an auction.

Last September I found my first early baseball at Brimfield. It is the small figure eight one pictured below. It had been found in a barn in Pennsylvania and the dealer had just put it out (a friend had gotten me in early at one of the paid shows). I was very happy to buy it but it wasn't cheap (I think I paid about 300). A few weeks later I found a larger early figure eight ball with cool old repair stitching at an antique store not far from Brimfield in Central Massachusetts (the big figure eight one pictured below). I bought it for around 300 too.

I kept hoping to find a lemon peel ball. Not long after finding the larger figure eight I completed a trade with a friend (and board lurker) and got a lemon peel (probably valued in the 250-350 range). It is the one with the most damage pictured below.

At the beginning of the Covid lockdown, I purchased the lemon peel ball posted on Net54 by a board member. It was the most expensive of all of my early baseballs (in the 500 range) but it was in nice condition for its age. It is the lemon peel that has the best patina below.

Beyond that purchase, I have had a fairly lucky antique shopping streak going even during the pandemic and lockdowns. My regular flea market restarted in early June, and I have gotten some nice bats highlighted by a Reach ring bat and a Cobb JF Hillerich decal bat (both in rough condition but the price was right).

I couldn't believe my luck last week when at the end of a good morning of running around the flea market, a dealer I knew was showing a lemon peel type ball to another customer. I asked politely and was allowed to review it with the other customer. He ended up passing as he wanted to resell it but wasn't entirely comfortable with the price and how much he could get for it. I ended up buying it for 300 after sending a quick picture to a fellow board member who thought it was likely a lemon peel.

I know and trust the dealer I bought it from who said it came in a box of Civil War era items. I believe he said it came from Massachusetts, but I will confirm that this coming weekend when I see him again. It is odd as there is no visible stitching or stitch marks. It is harder than my other lemon peels and slightly larger.

I am amazed that a year ago I had no early baseballs in my collection and now I have two early figure eight style and three lemon peel style ones. I am amazed on what is still out there.

Alan

[Huysmans]

Hey Alan,

I hope all is well... and that wasn't boring at all! As you mentioned, it's fascinating what can still be found out there, and I love hearing how items are found.

A nice lemon peel is definitely on my want list, and those are beauties, congrats!
.... hopefully we'll be able to chat again at the Boston Shriners Show when it resumes down the road.

[bgar3]

You do seem to on a hot streak. Nice stuff.
Show that original bat again sometime.

[GaryPassamonte]

That last ball appears to be an internal stitched lemon peel ball, but I wouldn't be sure without seeing it in person. Here is one with some internal stitching.

[aelefson]

Thank you guys! Brent, it will be great to see you again at a Wilmington in the future. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Bruce, thank you for the compliments and thank you for the trade recently. Gary, your ball is in amazing condition! I had read about internal stitching but I thought there would always be some outer stitching to finish the ball. I will try to post better photos this weekend.

Alan

[GaryPassamonte]

Alan- I'm glad you started this thread. Maybe we'll get to see some other examples. You've got a nice collection started.

[pedodds]

Hey Gary,
I think your lemon peel is called “The Boss”? I believe I have an 1884 hardware store sporting catalog with that exact stitching pattern. We are out of town. I can copy it and email it to you when we return in a week if you’d like.

Originally Posted by GaryPassamonte

That last ball appears to be an internal stitched lemon peel ball, but I wouldn't be sure without seeing it in person. Here is one with some internal stitching.

[GaryPassamonte]

That sounds good, John. Great images and a great collection. Let me know before you are going to downsize so I can start saving my pennies!

[bgar3]

Great looking stuff everyone. All I have is a nice repro.

[todeen]

I picked up my second vintage mitt! Arrived today. $19 on ebay. Ernie Lombardi Macgregor Goldsmith with flexpad. It needs to be re-stitched, but that can wait. Super excited for it to join my Lombardi collection!

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[todeen]

bump

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[yanks4]

This is a fantastic thread which I somehow missed the first time around. The sharing of these photos is what the hobby is all about. Really like viewing and learning. Thanks so much to all here for taking the time to share your great stuff. Wonderful to see.

[1880nonsports]

I sold all of the balls I posted in 2020 thru REA. I tried to keep one but just couldn't do it - I'd have to start all over again. I really enjoyed looking thru this thread and even looking back at my own mini accumulation. Sigh............