LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 May Signature Sports Collectibles #709  / 

19688

Joe DiMaggio's Final Home Run Baseball

Currency:USD Category:Sports - Cards & Fan Shop / Sports - Game Used Memorabilia Start Price:5,000.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD
Joe DiMaggio's Final Home Run Baseball
<B>Joe DiMaggio's Final Home Run Baseball, Hit in Game Four of 1951 World Series.</B></I> The sweetest swing in baseball history was responsible for 369 home runs in Big League competition, with 361 coming during the regular season and the balance of eight dating to the Fall Classic. Here we present what is arguably the most significant of them all, the ball that recorded the 369th and final round-tripper for the man they called the Yankee Clipper. Just across the Harlem River from the stadium that he consecrated with thirteen seasons of Hall of Fame service, DiMaggio launched this ONL (Frick) delivered by pitcher Sal Maglie into deep left field to open up a four to one lead and move one step closer to ending the 1951 Giants' fairy tale story punctuated by Bobby Thomson's "Shot" on the same Polo Grounds field five days earlier.<BR><BR> Historic home run artifacts continue to capture the imagination of the collecting world unlike any other baseball collectibles, with Mark McGwire's 1998 record-setting ball and Babe Ruth's first Yankee Stadium home run bat the only two non-card lots to top one million dollars at auction. Surely it goes without saying that the final home run baseball from one of the most iconic figures in American sports carries tremendous historical import. The connection to this unforgettable Subway Series, which brought Big Apple legends DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays together in combat for the only time, is just the icing on the cake.<BR><BR> Ironclad provenance is delivered in several forms. First, we have a typed, signed letter dated October 24, 1951 from the gentleman who caught the baseball to his nephews, making note of the gift. He writes, in part, "Under separate cover you will receive a package containing a baseball. It is not just an ordinary baseball but one that is autographed by Joe DiMaggio. This ball was the one that he hit for a home run in the fourth game of the World Series. I was at the game, as you will see by the ticket stubs, and caught the ball when it was hit into the second tier of the Polo Grounds..." And, sure enough, still keeping company with the letter and the baseball is a pair of adjacent ticket stubs in the "Upper Res. Seat" section of the fabled Manhattan ballpark. Amazingly, even the original packaging that delivered the baseball from lucky fan Irving Stein to his nephews in North Dakota has survived within this collection.<BR><BR> We must note that the autograph to which Mr. Stein refers is unfortunately not that of DiMaggio himself, but rather of a clubhouse worker ghost signing for the future Hall of Famer. This was quite common at the time, and seasoned autograph collectors are well aware that many Yankee team balls of the era bear a secretarial DiMaggio. Top autograph authenticator James Spence does confirm, however, that the "October 1951, To Ronnie & Gary, Joe DiMaggio" inscription is applied in vintage ink, and is no modern contrivance. While a genuine DiMaggio signature would be ideal, the clubhouse version does not in any way detract from the stature of this horsehide sphere in the book of baseball history. A fundamentally important artifact of our national game, worthy of placement within the finest of private collections. <I>LOA from James Spence Authentication.</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Balls, Pucks, etc., Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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