1945 & 1984 Signed Baseballs

Appraised on: July 16, 2005

Appraised in: Houston, Texas

Appraised by: Mike Gutierrez

Category: Sports Memorabilia

Episode Info: Houston, Hour 2 (#1005)

Originally Aired: February 6, 2006

IMAGE: 1 of 3  

Appraisal Video: (2:04)

GUEST: Well, they belong to my father-in-law, and there's one baseball from 1945 that was signed during an all-star USO game in the South Pacific, and the other baseball is from, I think, a 1984 Cincinnati Reds game. My father-in-law was a big baseball fan, and these were passed down to my husband.

APPRAISER: Okay, well, this first baseball, closest to me, here is a baseball signed by the 1945 tour, and uniquely here, we have Ted Williams, who was in the service during that time.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: Also on this baseball, we have Stan Musial and Rogers Hornsby, amid 33 other signatures. I mean, it's really packed with a lot of signatures. They are all authentic, and they all have black fountain pen signatures on an official ball.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And that is a great ball. This other baseball here is indeed from 1984. However, this baseball is a facsimile ball. In other words, it's imprinted.

GUEST: Okay, so they weren't personally signed-- the signatures were sort of stamped on there, or something like that?

APPRAISER: That's exactly right-- they're stamped. And unfortunately, it really just has a nominal value, probably of only about ten dollars.

GUEST: Oh, really?

APPRAISER: Yeah.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: However, this baseball here, the 1945 ball, is quite unique, and this, in auction, has a value of about $1,500.

GUEST: Oh, well, that's exciting to know.

APPRAISER: These are normally sold as concessions at the concession stands at the stadium, and this has been a practice for about the last 40 years.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: But you have a nice baseball right here.

GUEST: Yes... this is something that we can pass down to our grandchildren. So, thank you.

APPRAISER: Thank you.