This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/4/2017
In what has to be one of the oddest collection of major league stars and Hall of Famers on one ball, Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente, Satchel Paige and Pie Traynor join relief ace Elroy Face and Yankees troublemaker Joe Pepitone. We’ve wracked our brains and can come up with no rational explanation for the combination of players on this ball other than Clemente, Face and Traynor played with the Pirates organization. Clemente needs no introduction, and Roy Face was the Bucs top bullpen ace from 1955 through 1968. Hall of Famer Pie Traynor was the best third baseman of the pre-war years, Pirates manager in the late 1930s and the team’s play-by-play radio man through the 1965 season. That doesn’t explain why Satchel Paige, the Negro League legend and Hall of Famer and Joe Pepitone have also signed. Paige did spend part of his Negro League career with the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1932 through 1936, but that was decades before this ball was signed. Pepitone was an up and coming star with the Yankees during the mid-1960’s, but has no connection what so ever with Pittsburgh.
None-the-less, with the talent and characters on this ball, it is certainly an intriguing conversation piece. The ball itself is a 1963-1969 era Spalding Official National League ball which shows some light to medium toning from age. The five signatures have faded slightly, and with the exception of Pepitone which is lightest, display very well. An interesting ball that brings together five very different ballplayers.
The ball comes with an LOA from PSA/DNA.