This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/12/2019
For Babe Ruth and a handful of fortunate superstars, the baseball season didn't end after the Yankees held up the championship trophy (well, it was usually the Yankees anyway). As the most electrifying player in the game's history, "The Sultan of Swat" was off on his barnstorming tour to treat the west coast of the country to his brand of diamond brilliance while publishers were catching up with a new set of statistics to add to the baseball record books. It was a pleasant diversion for Ruth, appearing in front of awe-struck audiences to provide an exhibition of the sport he so dominated, not to mention the money he was making was even better than he brought in during the season. Cities and towns from all over the west tried to get an audience with Ruth and his barnstorming troupe, but with so much demand and so little time, it took the workings of a top-notch promoter to get the deal done, someone like Bill Feister, to whom the featured ball can be directly traced. Feister was the founder and manager of the Shell Oilers semi-pro team of the 1920s and even managed to convince the Shell Oil Company to build them a stadium in 1922, called Shell Park. The Oilers were so popular in the Long Beach area that Connie Mack brought his 1929 and 1930 world champion Philadelphia A's squads to play the Oilers, so it seemed like a no-brainer that Ruth & Co. would make it one of their stops in California.
As for the ball, it's a spectacular Official Pacific Coast League orb (Harvey A. Williams Commissioner 1924-31) with a stunning black steel-tip fountain pen signature. Signed while at the prime of his legendary career, the creamy-white orb sports a nearly perfect signature of Ruth that is positioned perfectly on the center of the sweet spot and equidistant of the top and bottom two-toned stitching. Other than a stray spot or two on the surface, both the ball and the signature look every bit as fresh as they did when Ruth took pen to leather some 90 years ago. As far as visual presentation goes, there's not much room for improvement here. If a single-signed Babe Ruth baseball has always been on your wish-list, this one is a real beauty that will have you thoroughly satisfied! The ball has been authenticated and comes with a full LOA from PSA/DNA where the autograph grade has been deemed NM/MT 8!