CHICAGO, IL.- The 2023 Major League Baseball season may be over, but
Hindman isn’t done celebrating the National Pastime just yet. Hindman is excited to present a single owner collection of signed baseballs in its Having a Ball auction, biddable now through November 29.
“This is one of the most thorough and exciting collections we have presented at auction,” said James Smith, Hindman’s Director of Sports Memorabilia. “The passion it took from this private collector to assemble this remarkable collection will undoubtedly make this auction a Fall Classic in its own right and is a must for baseball enthusiasts and sports fans.”
Featuring over 571 lots, the auction features balls signed by legends of the game like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Roberto Clemente, and Jackie Robinson along with hard-to-find team signed issues from throughout the 20th century.
The End of An Era
The highlight of the auction is expected to be a team signed 1934 New York Yankee ball (lot 258; opening bid: $3,000). 1934 marked the end of the first of many great eras in Yankee baseball history. The season itself wasn’t a particularly memorable one, with the Bronx Bombers finishing seven games out of first in a distant second place, but it would be the last season Babe Ruth played in pinstripes. At 39 years old, the once legendary Ruth was starting to see a significant slip in performance and Ruth, for his part, was attempting to transition into a managerial role. The Yankees were interested in appeasing Ruth’s interest in managing but only in its minor league system. After the season ended, Ruth jumped at what he believed to be an offer be a player-coach with the struggling Boston Braves in the National League, but in actuality was little more than a publicity stunt. Ruth would retire halfway through the 1935 season.
The ball is signed by the 1934 Yankees team including Ruth’s legendary teammate Lou Gehrig and future Hall of Famers Earle Combs, Tony Lazzeri, Bill Dickey, Lefty Gomez, and Red Ruffing. The lot comes with PSA and Beckett Authentication Services letters of authenticity.
Dawn of the Majors
From the earliest days of Major League Baseball comes a ball signed by a number of notable baseball and baseball-adjacent figures, most notably Cy Young, Larry Lajoie, and Kennesaw “Mountain” Landis, the first commissioner in baseball history (lot 287; opening bid: $1,000). While the exact circumstances of how the ball came to be signed by so many varied individuals is unclear, the inclusions of the signatures of Mrs. Christy Mathewson and Mrs. John J. McGraw, make it a highly unusual piece and one that should draw a fair amount of attention from collectors. The ball is sold with a Beckett Authentication Services letter of authenticity.
Other Notable Lots
Other notable lots in the auction includes:
• Lot 310 | A Walter Johnson Signed Ball (Beckett Authenticated)
Includes Two Unidentified Signatures
Opening Bid: $1,000
• Lot 101 | 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers Team Signed Ball (Beckett Authenticated)
Including Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges
The Dodgers First World Series Winning Team
Opening Bid: $500
• Lot 291 | A 1972 National League All Star Team Signed Ball (Beckett Authenticated) Including Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, Steve Carlton, Johnny Bench, Ron Santo, Red Schoendienst, Tom Seaver, Ted Simmons, Billy Williams, Lou Brock, Joe Torre, Bob Gibson, Willie Mays, Joe Morgan, Fergie Jenkins, Don Sutton
Opening Bid: $500
