A major auctioneer tossed a pair of purportedly historic baseballs from a New York City auction yesterday after an upstate memorabilia collector called them out as fakes.
A baseball supposedly signed by Yankee great Lou Gehrig in the 1930s and another supposedly used to make the final out in the 1917 World Series were abruptly pulled from bidding next Saturday by Heritage Auctions.
Both balls were manufactured years after their consigners claim, says memorabilia blogger Peter Nash.
Heritage’s director of sports auctions, Chris Ivy, pulled the balls to cover his company’s bases.
“There are some questions on the balls’ stamping, and to err on the side of caution, we removed them from the sale,” Ivy said.
A collector was ready to pay $28,000 for a ball manufactured after 1940 that bears a clear, unwavering Gehrig signature.
But Nash says that by 1940, Gehrig’s signature was illegible because his illness made his hands shake.
The last bid for the 1917 World Series ball was $10,000. But Nash says the stamping on the ball shows it dates to no earlier than 1926.