Greg-
Your post reminded me of the description in the lelands auction for the
Lot 1286 . The Bobby Thomson Home Run Baseball???
See description below
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Lot 1286 . The Bobby Thomson Home Run Baseball???
Is it? Can it really be? Have the baseball gods at long last gifted us with the most sought-after and most elusive piece of baseball goods in all history? We won't make the claim that this well-worn and orphaned-looking piece of wrapped horsehide is in fact baseball's last missing link -- the never-before-located ball slammed by Bobby Thomson into the Polo Grounds lower deck on October 3, 1951 to win the Giants the pennant (6 times, according to the famous broadcast call by Russ Hodges) -- but we will present some facts that may indeed make the case that it is. First, though, let us reiterate how earth-shaking the discovery of the actual ball that sounded the Shot Heard 'Round the World would be. Among baseball memorabilia, this is the ultimate prize not just because of its obvious history but because no one has ever been able to locate the darn thing, setting it apart from just about every other signal event in the game's history, from which some collectible or other has survived. The notable exceptions -- Babe Ruth's "called shot," Bill Mazeroski's 1960 Series-winning dinger, to name two others -- also cause the pulse to race, yet no single piece has the aura of the Thomson homer ball. This is likely because no single event in baseball annals has quite the emotional pull of the Thomson homer,capping as it did the Giants' amazing comeback from an 11 1/2-game deficit on August 7th, and subsequent 3-game playoff for the pennant against the hated Dodgers -- when they again had to battle from behind, entering the bottom of the 9th of the last playoff game trailing 4-2. More words have been written on Thomson's fateful at-bat against all-time schlemiel Ralph Branca with the tying runs on base and 2 outs than the fall of the Roman Empire. And Thomson and Branca have spoken probably every day since about how Bobby took the first pitch right down the pipe, then put the next one just over the the leftfield wall, a mere 315-foot shot that may as well have been 315,000 feet. It plopped into section 35, according to the grainy old films, into the hands of a chubby fan in a dark jacket and white T-shirt. However, unlike what would have happened today, no one went into section 35 seeking ball and fan. And whoever had it did not step forward for the media. Through the years, as the value of the phantom ball escalated, a few such claims were made, but no ball was ever produced that could be verified. And so the trail went cold. Until now, that is. Which is the result of another great story. Last year, Lelands.com chairman and founder Josh Leland Evans calling the Thomson ball "baseball's holy grail," made an offer guaranteeing $1 million to anyone who could produce it. As a result, we received many balls but none stood up to inspection and scrutiny as did this weathered ball from an individual who is a big baseball fan who has resided for decades in the New York metropolitan area. As a youngester, he was an avid baseball fan. In 1951, his father was working at The Travelers Insurance Company in Manhattan. after the famous game, he obtained this ball from a fellow employee who had caught it at the game. Because the man had no children of his own, and knew his friend did, and was a huge baseball fan, he graciously handed it over. Our consignor's father then took it home and gave it to his son, knowing how much it would mean to him. However, he did have a good moment of fun with it. As our consignor's father recalls, "There was a barber shop on Myrtle Avenue near my house which was all Dodger fans. The day after the game someone draped the building in black paper. The next day, when I received the ball, I took it to the barber shop to show the barbers, just to rub it in." The ball, which has been in our consignor's possession ever since, has the seal of an Official National League Baseball from the time period, with what appears to be a Frick stamping though the label is hard to read. The Spalding logo is also visible. There is writing on the ball in pen that is also difficult to identify. There is an inscription that reads: "N.Y. Giants vs. Brooklyn Dodgers, 1951, Last Game, Pennet [sic] won by N.Y., B. Thompson [sic] Home Run, Last of 9th." The ink on the ball is 100% guaranteed to be vintage, as is the ball, as the condition will attest. Ball has substantial tonging and foxing of the surface, with a bit of shellack rendering a nice shine. There are areas of erosion and dirt spotting, but the laces are still tight as a drum. Bottom line: there is no doubt that this ball is at the very least from the unforgettable game. We cannot, however, guarantee that this is the actual Thomson home run ball because we are relying solely on second-had information. We can tell you that this is as close as we have come to retrieving baseball's "holy grail," if indeed this is not it. We have undertaken an exhaustive search in the metropolitan New York area and the nation, and we believe we may have hit paydirt, just as Thomson did on that blessed afternoon at Coogan's Bluff. In the end, the ball is now in your court. It comes with a detailed LOA from our consignor.
http://www.lelands.com/bid.aspx?lot=1286&auction=505
