1924 Babe Ruth Single Signed Baseball - PSA/DNA & Beckett LOA's

“The crowd stood and cheered. A fat man spilled his bag of peanuts and waved his hat. A woman who graces social affairs stood and shouted at the top of her voice. A boy in an expensive fur-trimmed overcoat grinned. A kid with a torn sweater and a dust-smudged face danced and grinned. All kids grinned. There was the light of heaven in their faces. They had seen Babe Ruth hit a homer.” That is how the Spokane Spokesman-Review described the euphoria that washed over Natatorium Park after Ruth homered in his final at-bat of an exhibition barnstorming game on October 17, 1924. So many fans stormed onto the field to celebrate that the game ended early, leaving one of the many local All-Stars in the lineup standing alone in the batter’s box among a sea of faces—never to know if he could have hit back-to-back home runs with the Great Bambino. Fans inundated Ruth, waving baseballs and scraps of paper in his direction. He signed as many autographs as possible before boarding a train to Tacoma for the second stop of his West Coast tour, which would take him to Seattle, Portland, and throughout California over the next two weeks. The American Legion organized Ruth’s first known appearance in Spokane, and some 1,700 fans turned out for the affair between Ruth and the local Ed McGoldrick All-Stars and Yankees teammate Bob Meusel and the local Fort Wright All-Stars. The Legion successfully petitioned the school board to award students half the day out of school to attend the Friday afternoon game, and children without tickets peeked over the outfield fence, climbed telegraph poles, and sat atop rooftops for a distant glimpse at the action. Ruth hit three doubles and a single before his home run, and Meusel—who briefly played minor-league ball for the Spokane Indians in 1917—also homered during the game. No one kept an official score because Ruth and Meusel often batted out of order to appease the crowd, but reports indicated unofficial tallies had Ruth and the McGoldrick All-Stars winning, 7-1. In this month’s Vintage Premier Auction, PWCC proudly presents a Spalding baseball Ruth autographed during his day in Spokane. Ruth’s bold autograph fills the sweet spot and has received authentication from Beckett and PSA. Written in an unknown hand are details of when Ruth signed the ball: “Signed at Spokane/Oct 17-24/For A.P. Murphy.” In the late 1910s and early 1920s, Arthur P. Murphy played baseball for local Spokane teams and became a well-known billiards champion in the area. It is impossible to know whether this baseball belonged to him or some other individual with similar initials, but a flood of collectors will nevertheless descend upon this month’s Vintage Premier Auction for their chance to own this nearly 100-year-old piece of history. They will shout, cheer, and wave their hats to try to stand out as the extended bidding ends, but only one collector’s bid will have the power of a Ruthian home run. Beckett Letter of Authenticity This letter will serve as a statement of authenticity for the following item: Babe Ruth Signed Baseball. After examination and consideration of multiple factors common to known exemplars of the signatures, Beckett Authentication Services offers its opinion that the item is authentic. As part of the authentication process, your authentic item has been assigned a unique alphanumeric certification number (AB09652), which can be found on the tamper-evident label affixed to either the item or on this letter of authenticity. Each certification number can be verified at beckett-authentication.com. PSA Letter of Authenticity PSA/DNA Authentication Services has examined this Babe Ruth signed baseball. In our opinion, the aforementioned signature(s) is/are authentic. Please note, all additional writing is written in an unknown hand. The signature(s) is/are consistent considering slant, flow, pen pressure, letter size, and other characteristics that are typical of the other exemplars that we have examined in our hobby and professional career. As part of the authentication process, the item has been permanently marked with proprietary invisible ink that contains a patented strand of synthetic DNA, which will fluoresce under a calibrated laser. In addition, a tamper-evident label containing a unique alphanumeric certification number has been placed on the item or on this Letter of Authenticity (AI09142). Verify the validity of the certification number and exact image at PSAcard.com/DNAcert.