Representing a stark dichotomy, this 1920s Official Piedmont League baseball hails from a circuit whose contemporary combatants included the Danville Tobacconists and High Point Furniture Makers. While those names will conjure few, if any memories, the autographs on this vintage orb need no introduction. We speak of the incomparable pairing of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The sphere showcases alternating red and black laces and exhibits definitive diamond use. The cleanest of the panels, appropriately, is home to Ruth’s sizable scripting. Executed in black-ink steel tip fountain pen, Ruth’s penning projects (“4”) strength and clarity. Quotation marks flanking “Babe” date the autograph to pre-1928. On the opposite panel, Gehrig’s black-ink penmanship (“2-3” strength) is affected by surface abrasions, yet still remains identifiable. Full photo LOA from JSA.
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