Addendum: Ball has been graded by PSA/DNA.
After winning the pennant in 1936 and 1937, the New York Giants began
to lose steam. The teams big stars Mel Ott, Bill Terry, Carl Hubbell
and Harry Danning were on the downside of great careers and the
organization's farm system had yet to supply much needed new blood to the
lineup. Though they finished in fifth place, pitchers Harry Gumbert won
18 games and a 36 year old Carl Hubbell won 11 and overall the team hit
a collective .272 for the season. Sometime during the ’39 season one of
the Giants passed this ball around to his teammates to sign.
This strikingly high-grade Spalding Official National League Ball has been signed by 20 of
the ’39 Giants, including Hall of Famers Carl Hubbell, Mel Ott, and
Travis Jackson plus Zeke Bonura, Harry Dancing, Bill Lohrman, George
Myatt, Joe Moore, Manny Salvo, Jack McCarthy, Jimmie Ripple, Frank
Demaree, Slick Castleman, Frank Mancuso, Ken O’Dea, Red Lynn, Bob Seeds,
Walter Brown, Dick Coffman, Lou Chiozza, Alex Kampouris, Cliff Melton,
Bill Juries, Burgess Whitehead and Harry Gumbert. A Hal Schumacher
signature has been deemed clubhouse. The signatures are in black
fountain pen and both the signatures and ball have been wonderfully
preserved in its original Spading National League Base Ball box,
complete with beautiful vintage Art Deco graphics.
Full LOA from PSA/DNA with overall 8.5 grade: 8 autographs; 8 ball; plus .5 for eye appeal. Originally sourced from the estate of former N.Y. Giants player, Jimmy Ripple.