When it comes to baseball history, no team has produced more legends of the game than the New York Yankees. Featured here is a special multi-signed baseball autographed by six Yankee greats, highlighted by an iconic trio who brought 20 of 27 World Series titles to the Bronx. Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle bridged a four-decade run of dominance in the American League, and all three have signed this Official National League baseball.
The Babe has penned a striking black ink signature on the sweet spot that rates 7.5/10 in strength and eye appeal. Decades later (circa 1980s based on the style), Mantle added his autograph on the south panel adjacent to the Bambino in 7/10 blue ballpoint. On the north panel, DiMaggio's signature in black has faded quite a bit, but remains legible. The west panel holds the faint black pen autographs of Yankees third-baseman Red Rolfe and Hall of Fame second-baseman Joe Gordon, both of whom were five-time World Champs. And finally, hidden next to DiMaggio, is first-baseman Babe Dahlgren, best known as the man who replaced Lou Gehrig in the Yankees lineup in 1939, ending the Iron Horse's streak of 2,130 consecutive games.
The ONL ball itself shows a cream tone with some minor scuffing but has maintained a lovely patina with all manufacturer stamps bold and legible. It is interesting to note the stamp on the south panel next to Mantle. Herman J. Weisman was president of the Eastern League (Class A) from 1926-1929. This was the first incarnation of the Eastern League, the one that preceded the New York-Pennsylvania League which was later renamed the Eastern League in 1938. Back then it was common for the minor leagues to routinely use Major League balls and just place their own stamp on them. (Our consignor contacted the founder of the www.MinorLeagueBaseballs.com online museum for this info.)
Why is this relevant? Because the person who got Ruth's autograph (and eventually Rolfe, Gordon, Dahlgren and DiMaggio), was a minor leaguer by the name of Paul Kinney who pitched for the Albany Senators of the Eastern League in 1927 and '28. His grandson inherited this ball years ago and has consigned it. The Mantle autograph was likely added by Paul or his son at a memorabilia show in the 1980s. It's quite an risky feat to add any autographs to a Ruth ball many decades after the fact, but in this case it has paid off as the ball now really stands out from others. Few ball with both Ruth and Mantle exist, and this one even has Joe D to boot! What a special piece for a passionate Yankees or vintage baseball collector. Accompanied by full LOAs from both PSA/DNA and JSA.