David Wells dons his Babe Ruth hat for an interview promoting the current SCP auction.
Former Yankee pitcher David Wells once donned a game-used Babe Ruth hat on the mound when he faced the Cleveland Indians on June 27, 1998. Boomer says he paid $35,000 for the hat with “G. Ruth” stitched into the lid and that same hat has a bid of over $200,000 now that Wells has put it up for sale. The auction house selling it notes there is a reserve on the hat which has not yet been met.
Sports Cards Plus’ current auction also features another relic related to Ruth not owned by Wells, his c.1920 Yankee jersey that has already attracted bids exceeding $1.6 million. The retired pitcher, who once pitched a perfect game for the Yanks, appears to have chosen the right time to sell his Ruth cap and could make quite a score if the bidding reaches his secret reserve.
In an industry riddled with fraud and deception, Wells can consider himself lucky to exit the hobby with a nice return on his investment for a hat that expert Dave Grob considers authentic. The only attribute of the hat that ties it to game use by Ruth is the chain-stitched name in the interior leather band. Examination of the stitching by an expert like Grob can make or break such an item that has no clear provenance or photographic documentation as having once been on the Bambino’s head. Grob examined the stitching and told us, “It is really the only thing you have to tie the hat to Ruth as a matter of practicality.” As for the hat Grob says, “I found no issues with it at all. Very nice artifact.”
Wells, however, wasn’t as lucky with another artifact that was presented to him as being the last jersey the Babe ever wore as a major leaguer for the Boston Braves in 1935. This past summer, Wells appeared onFOX Sports’ television show, “Cheap Seats,” to showcase his collection/man-cave in his San Diego home and pointed to one display case with the alleged Ruth jersey. Wells told the audience, “Here’s my jerseys. Babe Ruth’s last year as a Boston Brave.” Wells pointed to the jersey he thought was Ruth’s last, relying on the representations made to him by the sellers and auctioneers who had handled the garment previously.
Unfortunately for Wells, the jersey was actually from 1934, not 1935, and was worn by Wally Berger, not Ruth. Berger also wore number “3″ for the Braves from 1932 to 1934, before Ruth’s arrival. SCP is selling the eight item stash known as “The David Wells Collection,” and Ruth’s alleged “last jersey” is now correctly being sold as a “1933-34 Wally Berger Boston Braves Game Worn Road Jersey.” Based upon Dave Grob’s report, the auction house has also added to the lot title: “With Possible 1935 Attribution to Babe Ruth.” SCP says Grob was unable to “attribute this jersey to Babe Ruth in any exclusive or definitive manner, though does allow for the possibility that Ruth could have worn it in Spring Training of 1935. In addition to their shared uniform number that was transferred to Ruth in 1935, Berger and Ruth were similar in stature.” The jersey currently has a bid of $15,700.
The jersey was once authenticated by Grey Flannel and sold previously at Robert Edward Auctions in 1997 for $56,025. It was advertised as a “1935 Babe Ruth Boston Braves Jersey.” The auction house said the jersey was accompanied by a letter from Wally Berger’s widow stating that the jersey was given to her husband by Ruth after his last game in 1935. She wrote, “Wally, in admiration of the Babe asked if he could have his last shirt. Babe responded, “Sure kid,” and gave Wally the shirt.”
REA sold the current jersey owned by David Wells as a Babe Ruth Boston Braves jersey game-used in 1935. The jersey was thought to be Ruth;s last based on an alleged letter from Wally Berger's widow. The jersey sold for over $50,000.
Dave Grob recently examined the Braves jersey for SCP and determined it was Berger’s jersey used in either 1933 or 1934. The alleged Mrs. Berger story about Ruth’s last game appears to be an impossibility. The auction house claims it could have been possible Ruth wore the jersey in spring training of 1935, but there’s no proof he ever did. The alleged LOA from Mrs. Berger was the jersey’s only tie to Ruth and is included with the lot at the SCP auction. It has not definitively been proven that Berger’s widow actually wrote that letter, either.
SCP also does not include in its write-up the fact that when REA sold the jersey in 1997 its source was identified as dealer and collector Tony Cocchi. The letter allegedly written by Mrs. Wally Berger stated, “Wally kept the shirt in his baseball collection until his death (on) November 30, 1988. I decided to part with the shirt and I am now happy it is in the collection of Tony Cocchi.”
Cocchi had supplied the top auctions and dealers with big-ticket items for decades but became a controversial figure in the memorabilia business with his 2006 indictment in Cobb County, Ga., when he was accused of selling collector Dr. Goodman Espy a bogus Ty Cobb jersey in 1991 for $85,000. In 2007, a jury found Cocchi not guilty of charges of theft by deception in relation to the Cobb jersey. Espy vowed to pursue Cocchi in civil litigation and at the time told the New York Daily News, “I may have lost the battle, but I will not lose the war.”
The misrepresentation at auction of the alleged Ruth/Berger jersey and the problems with the letter allegedly written by Wally Berger’s widow are compounded by Cocchi’s being the source of the garment. Cocchi also furnished REA with a photo of Ruth signed to him by Berger’s widow stating, “Tony I am glad that you have this shirt.” When REA sold the jersey in 1997 as Ruth’s own they also tied Cocchi to ownership of Babe Ruth’s alleged “last bat.” REA wrote, “As a 20 year veteran collector Tony Cocchi notes in his accompanying letter detailing the Berger collection, this jersey and ball were originally accompanied by Babe Ruth’s last bat. This bat was long ago traded away by Tony and now rests comfortably in the legendary and incomparable Barry Halper Collection.”
Babe Ruth's alleged last bat was sold by Barry Halper at Sotheby's in 1999 and at REA in 2001. In 1997 REA said it was acquired by Tony Cocchi from Wally Berger's widow.
When Barry Halper sold that alleged “last bat” of Ruth at Sotheby’s in 1999 it was accompanied by another similar letter alleged to have been written by Mrs. Wally Berger. The Sotheby’s catalogue published an excerpt: ”Wally asked Babe if he could have his last bat as a keepsake- Babe responded, “Sure kid” to Wally. Wally kept the bat in his collection until his death on November 30, 1998.” Based upon the Berger provenance the bat sold for close to $80,000. (REA sold the bat again in 2001 for $59,662.) Although REA said Cocchi traded the bat to Halper, the Sotheby’s LOA allegedly written by Berger’s widow mentions her transfer of ownership of the bat to Halper, not Cocchi.
With Mrs. Berger’s alleged story of Wally’s acquisition of Ruth’s last jersey being disproved, how can her story about the bat still be believed? The Ruth bat could likely join a host of other fraudulent and misrepresented items from the Halper Collection including: “Shoeless Joe” Jackson’s 1919 jersey; Lou Gehrig’s Last Glove; The shotgun that Killed Ty Cobb’s father; Halper’s signed 500 HR Clubsheet; a Lock of Babe Ruth’s hair; and a large group of other bogus jerseys attributed to Baseball Hall of Famers.
Wells’ Other Items in the SCP Auction include:
- An alleged single-signed baseball by Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson. Another alleged Mathewson signed ball sold for over $110,000 at MLB’s All-Star Game auction in 2005. But the ball being offered by Wells has red flags waving in SCP’s own auction description. The auction house says the ball comes with a letter of authenticity from the company JSA (James Spence Authentication), but they also add: ”This ball was submitted to PSA/DNA who rendered an opinion of Not Authentic.” So is it real or fake? Most experts agree with PSA on this one and, as evidenced in one of our recent reports, both JSA and PSA have authenticated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bogus Mathewson balls. One other Mathewson item Wells consigned to SCP is genuine. It’s a WW I document actually signed by the “Christian Gentleman.”
SCP is offering David Wells' 1942 Negro League baseball allegedly signed by Josh Gibson and other stars.
-A Negro League baseball from 1942 allegedly signed by Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and a host of other obscure and rare legends from the Homestead Grays and K.C. Monarchs. SCP states: ”Our research indicates that this ball was most certainly game used from one of those teams classic battles during the 1942 season.” But the ball is clearly not an official Negro League baseball from that time period and several experts we spoke with doubt the authenticity of all the signatures on the ball. The signatures appear to be at odds with exemplars from a period document signed by Homestead Grays players that is part of the Newark Public Library’s “Effa Manley Collection.”
-A Derby Cap alleged to have been signed by Lou Gehrig in Columbus, Ohio, in 1928. The cap was sold by Barry Halper at Sotheby’s in 1999 and is accompanied by a photo alleged to show Gehrig wearing the same hat. An inscription appears on the interior silk lining of the cap: “”To Pops Lunken, The Al Smith of Dayton, Ohio, Most Sincerely from ‘Lou’ Gehrig.”
We couldn’t get any of the experts we asked to opine that this Gehrig signature was a forgery, however, we couldn’t get anyone to commit to an opinion that it was genuine either.
Phil Rizzuto's glove from his rookie season in 1941 is accompanied by an LOA from Rizzuto to Barry Halper.
-Rounding out SCP’s “David Wells Collection” are a few other items that appear to be genuine: Thurman Munson’s shin guards and Phil Rizzuto’s glove from his rookie season in 1941. The glove is accompanied by a LOA from Rizzuto to Halper stating: “To Barry – this is the glove I used my rookie year and my first World Series, 1941 – P.S. take good care of it – it took good care of me – your friend – Phil Rizzuto.”
Looks like Wells went at least 4 for 8 with this group of baseball treasures. (5 for 8, if the Gehrig signature in the cap is genuine.)
This Peck & Snyder trade card of the 1868 Atlantics was likely offered for sale in 1871, not 1868.
The 2012 Spring auction season is upon us and collectors have had thousands of lots to choose from in several sales. Anything and everything is up for grabs. Here are some 19th-century rarities being offered in Robert Edward Auctions’ current sale that we can offer some additional information on:
1. REA, Lot 21: 1868 Atlantic BBC Peck & Snyder trade card- The auction house describes this card as, “being one of the earliest-known baseball cards.” However, research suggests that this card was produced by Peck & Snyder in 1871 (and perhaps as early as the later part of 1870). While the card features an albumen print of the 1868 Brooklyn Atlantics team, the ad featured on its reverse and a period advertisement from the New York Clipper suggest it was sold with other notable Peck & Snyder trade cards during the season of 1871. If there were an earlier version of the Atlantic card dating back to 1868 it would likely appear as a CDV and not in the larger trade card format.
The ads on all of the Atlantic trade cards known to exist feature the caricature of Andrew Peck bearing a “126 Nassau St.” address. Although these known Atlantic cards are trimmed with the addresses removed, it is well established that every trade card featuring the Peck caricature denotes the “126 Nassau St.” address. The ad also indicates that the trade cards for the 1869 Red Stockings and 1870 Mutuals were also available for sale in 1871. The Mutual card is only known to have the “126 Nassau St.” address and caricature on its reverse. (Note: The other 1871 cards the Clipper advertised for sale were not photos of individual players, but rather team photos with composite portraits. These cards are currently known to exist with a reverse advertisement for J. A. Pierce & Co. of Chicago. It is not known if the cards offered in this 1871 P&S ad featured their own advertisement or whether Peck purchased the J. A. Pierce & Co. cards wholesale and subsequently resold them. The P&S advertisements do offer a wholesale price, so it is possible other merchants could have resold the P&S cards and visa versa.)
This Peck & Snyder ad from the 1871 NY Clipper shows a 126 Nassau St. address and several trade cards that were thought to be issued in 1869.The ad supports the theory that the two existing styles of Red Stocking team trade cards were produced well after CDVs or "album sized" cards first appeared in advertisements from the 1869 New York Clipper.
This 1869 ad from the NY Clipper shows that "album size" CDV cards (sold by Peck & Snyder) pre-date the larger trade card version.
The “22 Ann St.” address featured in this advertisement appears to only have been utilized by P&S in 1869 and perhaps in early 1870. The alleged 1868 P&S trade card of the Atlantics currently has a bid of $60,000 and the auction house says they know of only two other known images of the card. There are actually five known versions including the one being sold. The others are: 1. Example featured in Mark Rucker’s book, Baseball Cartes, now owned by Corey Shanus; 2. Baseball Hall of Fame Collection; 3. The John Kashmanian Collection (featured in Kashmanian’s book); 4.Charles Mears’ copy, which appears to have had the original trade card’s albumen photo transfered to CDV-like mount. When REA’s Rob Lifson was interviewed about this card in 2009 for ScrippsNews he said he had only seen one other 1868 Atlantic card and that the back of the Mears example was “definitely different.” The current REA lot description states that the fifth known example is “an essentially impossible-to-obtain “dream card.”
This CDV of the 1869 Red Stockings features a Peck & Snyder ad on the reverse with an address of "22 Ann St." This address suggests that the CDV style cards were issued before the larger trade card issue that was long believed to have been issued in 1869.
2. REA, Lot 23:1869 Red Stockings CDV with Peck & Snyder Advertising Reverse. This card features a “22 Ann St.” address for the P&S advertisement and further supports the contention that these CDV-sized or “album size” cards were the first 1869 Reds cards produced by the company. The earliest trade card size issue featuring the 1869 Reds also bears a “22 Ann St.” address and an advertisement for Peck and Snyder ice skating products. It is our opinion these cards are the earliest of the Red Stocking issue in the larger trade card format. The majority of the trade cards featuring the Reds bear the “126 Nassau St.” address and were likely produced from late 1870 through 1871, as evidenced on the 1871 New York Clipper ad. The current card offered by REA and the others bearing ads for Chadwick’s 1869 guide (as well as examples denoting “Sample Copy”) should be considered the earliest and only versions of the card verified as being produced during the season of 1869.
This copy of the 1860 Beadle Guide was owned by Henry Chadwick and donated to the NYPL by the widow of A.G. Spalding. It's currently missing from the famous Spalding Collection.
3. REA, LOT 968: 1860 Beadle’s Dime Base-Ball Player – Henry Chadwick’s personal copy! The auction house claims that this lot was Chadwick’s personal copy of the first Beadle Guide he ever edited, but the 1860 copy from the New York Public Library (appearing on microfilm above), which bears Chadwick’s handwritten inscription, “Beadle’s 1860 First Edition,” raises some questions. The offered copy was first acquired in May of 1991 at DuMouchelle’s Auction House in Detroit, Michigan. REA says the auction house, “presented an astounding collection of early baseball memorabilia that is talked about by advanced collectors to this day. It was not stated where the collection came from, but the sale included an extraordinary selection of books and memorabilia that obviously originated from someone involved in the game, possibly as a sportswriter.” With no further provenance, the Beadle guide was accompanied by an alleged period letter of authenticity written by John Doyle attesting to the authenticity of Chadwick’s signature. We’re not sure what exemplars JSA used to authenticate both signatures. In addition, it appears that the authentic copy inscribed by Chadwick from the NYPL is currently missing from the library along with several other important publications including constitutions and by-laws from teams like the Knickerbockers and Excelsiors. It appears that Chadwick passed along his entire run of his own Beadle Guides to Spalding and they were documented in the 1922 NYPL inventory as: “The Dime Base Ball Player. 1860-62, 1864, 1866-81. New York: Beadle & Co.” If the auction copy is authentic, it would be at best: “One of Chadwick’s personal copies of the 1860 Beadle Guide.”
This example of the 1870 Mutuals P&S was previously unknown. There could be as many as ten of these cards that have survived.
4. REA, Lot 25:1870 Mutuals Peck & Syder Advertising Trade Card. The auction house claims: “Prior to the discovery of this card, we knew of the existence of only four examples of the 1870 Mutuals Peck & Snyder trade cards, two of which were trimmed.” They also add: ”It should be pointed out that the two untrimmed examples of this card of which we are aware are not likely to ever be available: “The first example resides in the permanent collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown while the other is currently in an advanced private collection of nineteenth-century baseball memorabilia, where it will most likely remain for quite some time.” Our research indicates that there are at least seven of these Mutual cards in existence (featuring the 126 Nassau St. including the one pictured above.) Based upon the New York Clipper ads by Peck & Snyder, it is also more likely this card was issued in 1871 as the company was still using its “22 Ann St.” address on ads into 1870. Historian John Thorn was nice enough to share with us Peck & Snyder’s addresses as they appeared in period New York Street directories: ”1868 NYC Directory listing: 105 Nassau, Peck’s home in Jersey City at Erie near Fifth ; 1869: 105 Nassau, home Jersey City; 1870 NYC Directory listing: 105 Nassau; 1871: 126 Nassau; 1872: 126 Nassau; 1873: 126 Nassau;1874: 126 Nassau, Peck’s home at 313 West 24th.” (The “22 Ann St.” address does not appear in the directories, only on advertisements and products).
This 1870 CDV of Spalding's Forest City team is described as a "newly discovered example by REA.
5. REA, Lot 28:1870 Forest City BBC of Rockford CDV with Al Spalding. REA states that this card along with all of the other CDV and trade card rarities in this current auction were, “recently discovered by our consignor among 135 CDVs and trade cards left to her by her parents, who purchased them over twenty years ago at an antiques shop. Remarkably, also included were two different 1869 Cincinnati Reds cards.” REA specifically mentions how many cards they believe exist in regard to the Atlantic (“only two other examples”), Mutual (“only four examples”) Red Stocking (“fewer than ten”) and Chicago (“few others are known”) trade cards. However, in the description for the current Forest City CDV, there is curiously no mention of how many cards are known to exist. In fact, REA fails to mention that this “newly discovered example” is only the fourth known copy of this card to ever surface. The first appeared in Mark Rucker’s book with a credit to REA president, Rob Lifson; the second sold in the 1991 Sotheby’s Copeland Sale (later sold by MastroNet in 2001); and the third example sold at Sotheby’s in 1993 (and later at Oser/MastroNet in 2002). When MastroNet sold the card in 2002 they revealed that the CDV was, “one of the rarest, with only three examples known to exist to date.”
The Forest City CDV is a controversial item on account of one documented example having been wrongfully removed from the NYPL’s Spalding Collection. (In the past month Hauls of Shame hasidentified other stolen items from the NYPLand offered at auction. Sources indicate these items will be recoverd by the NYPL as part of an on-going FBI investigation into the NYPL thefts.)
One of these three rare CDV’s of the 1870 Forest City BBC is believed to be the example missing from NYPLs Spalding Collection.
The group of “newly discovered” CDVs and trade cards featured in REA’s current auction represent fresh-to-the-hobby examples of some of the rarest baseball images known to exist. If the Forest City CDV being offered is entirely legitimate, it would mean that one of the other three known examples is likely the missing Spalding Collection artifact.
Considering the staggering rarity of all of these cards, REAs current offerings are truly remarkable.
Did Cookie Lavagetto hit this ball to break up a No-Hitter in the 1947 World Series.
Collector Seth Swirsky is selling his collection of historic baseballs today, including the infamous “Buckner Ball” from the 1986 World Series. The provenance of the ball that rolled through Bill Buckner’s legs is rock-solid and well-documented by statements from all parties involved in its acquisition. It was one of dozens of official World Series balls issued by Major League Baseball and used in Game 6 at Shea Stadium. These specially made World Series balls used in post season play were introduced by MLB in 1978 for the 75th anniversary of the Fall Classic.`
Pre-1978, World Series games were played with official balls from both the National and American leagues dating back to the first Series in 1903. One of Swirsky’s other balls being sold as lot #80950 in Heritage Auction Galleries‘ Spring sale is also alleged to be a historic baseball and described as: 1947 World Series Game Four Last Baseball-Bevens Loses One Hitter! The ball is said to have been hit by “Cookie” Lavagetto off of Yankee pitcher Bill Bevens to break up his Game 4 no-hitter. But the provenance on this ball is far from air-tight coming with a 2003 letter of authenticity from Barry Halper claiming he acquired the ball directly from Bill Bevens, and another 2003 letter addressed to Halper from Yogi Berra who wrote, “After we lost, I gave him (Bevens) that ball.” Berra appears to have been only referring to the ball thrown to the plate by Tommy Henrich on that day in 1947, not specifically the ball that Halper once owned. Yogi says he gave the last ball in play to Bevens as a souvenir of the game, because “he deserved the ball.” In regard to the ball, Halper, in his letter to Seth Swirsky, wrote, “Yogi was really instrumental in connecting the dots.”
Heritage states in the lot description that the ball is an “Official AL Harridge” baseball. However, Game 4 of the 1947 World Series was played at Ebbets Field and per long-standing baseball traditions, a National League Ford Frick ball would have been furnished by the home club for use during Bevens’ almost-no-hitter.
So, how could this AL ball be the one that was crushed by Cookie Lavagetto on that fateful day in 1947?
The sphere is a vintage c.1947 American League Harridge ball and the inscription “World Series 1947″ appears to be written on the side panel as a period notation. However, it is alleged in the LOA from Barry Halper, provided with the item, that Bevens allegedly signed and added the “Oct. 3 Last ball hit” years later after Halper allegedly purchased the ball and jersey Bevens allegedly wore during Game 4 of the WS in 1947 (and also his 1947 WS ring). The “Last ball hit” inscription is clearly not period and also does not resemble Bevens’ handwriting. The ink even appears to be different and another color. Halper in his LOA describes how the ball was allegedly signed for ex-player Pete Ward, and not Halper himself, even though Halper claimed to have purchased the ball and Bevens’ Yankee jersey directly from Bevens. Halper wrote:
“Many years ago I acquired from Bill Bevens (author of that near no hitter in the 1947 World Series) the uniform which he wore that day, his 1947 World Series ring as well as the ball from that last at bat which was a hit by Cookie Lavagetto. Years later, I had the opportunity to meet the former 3rd baseman, Pete Ward, for the Chicago White Sox and the Yankees who lived near Mr. Bevens. As a special favor to me, Pete Ward said that he would ask Mr. Bevens to sign the items…”
It is clearly visible that the three surviving notations on the ball are written in three different inks with three different pens. Adding to the confusion, Heritage, in their lot description, also reveals that, “Other earlier signatures have been professionally removed.”
The notation "1947 World Series" appears to be period, but the "Last out" notation was added in more recent times with Bevens' alleged signature.
Before we further examine the ball itself, we should note that Halper’s jersey, which sold at Sotheby’s in 1999 for $8,000 was also NOT Bevens’ jersey from the day he almost pitched a no-hitter. It is clearly shown in photographs taken on Oct. 3, 1947, that the button placement on Bevens’ jersey does not match that of the Halper jersey. Considering the numerous authenticity problems with Halper’s uniform holdings and the documented fraud involved in his issuing multiple and false provenance statements for other items (including a million-dollar “Shoeless” Joe Jackson jersey that was determined to be a fake after he sold it to the Baseball Hall of Fame), considerable doubt has been cast on on the legitimacy of the Bevens ball.
Uniform expert and historian, Dave Grob, also confirmed for us that the jersey Halper sold at Sotheby’s as Bevens’ 1947 Yankee road jersey was misrepresented as evidenced by the button placement. (REA sold the same jersey again in 2001 for $4,591 and Mastrosold it years later in 2006 for $3,361.) When REA offered the jersey in 2001 they described it as Bill Bevens’ 1947 World Series uniform and highlighted a letter of authenticity from Bevens, himself, stating that he wore the same jersey in game 4 at Ebbets Field. (The Bevens letter was also sold with the jersey at Sotheby’s in 1999.) But as Dave Grob illustrates in a photographic plate, the Halper jersey was most definitely not the genuine article it was advertised to be by Bill Bevens and the three auctioneers:
The alleged Bevens ball being offered by Heritage was also previously sold at auction. It wasfirst offered by Lelands in May of 2002 as lot 1231 but did not sell with a reserve of $10,000. In December of 2002, Lelands auctioned it off again as Lot 769, where it sold this time for $6,111.88. Unlike the alleged 1947 jersey that sold at Sotheby’s in 1999, the ball was not accompanied with an LOA from Bevens. Lelands only stated that the ball was accompanied by an “LOA. Ex-Barry Halper Collection.” The Berra and Halper letters accompanying the current Heritage lot were written after the Lelands auction in January and March of 2003. Lelands didn’t mention the fact that Bevens’ alleged signature graced an official AL ball.
Our research has found that verifiable and important game-used World Series baseballs from the post-1920 period feature the league markings of the team that was hosting the World Series game.
In 1920, Baseball, added this language to the rules of the game:
“Ball -The President of the League of which the contesting clubs are members shall specify the number of baseballs which the home club must deliver to the umpire prior to the hour set for the commencement of a championship game, and all of such baseballs shall be of the regulation make adopted by the league.”
The evidence suggests that these rules were also used for the World Series, and there were no specific modifications made for post-season play. David Nemec, historian and author of The Rules of Baseball told us that since 1903 both leagues played by these same rules and that he had no knowledge of any such modifications. Nemec said, “Post-1920, I know of no formal rules issued that would have differed from the rule book both leagues then utilized.”
It is important to note that after the beaning death of Ray Chapman in 1920, Baseball instituted new policy regarding the number of baseballs furnished by the home club as a safety measure for players. No longer would dark and dirty baseballs be allowed to be pitched to batters who had considerable trouble seeing them. When balls were soiled, they were replaced with fresh ones. Before 1920 only a few balls were used per game and the NL and AL rules stated as early as 1904:
“Ball- Two regulation balls of the make adopted by the league of which the contesting clubs are members shall be delivered by the home club to the umpire at or before the hour for the commencement of a championship game.”
1977 was the last year both NL and AL balls were used in World Series play. Reggie Jackson hit this OAL ball for his third home run at Yankee Stadium.
Here are some historic baseballs with strong provenance that support the contention that the home club would furnish all of the baseballs for World Series games:
1977 World Series- Reggie Jackson’s 3rd HR ball from Yankee Stadium game, all Official AL balls (This ball is also in Heritage’s current auction).
1975 World Series-Carlton Fisk’s Game 6 HR ball at Fenway Park, Official AL ball (Sold at Lelands)
1969 World Series- Cleon Jones’ “Shoe Polish Ball” from Game 5 at Shea Stadium, Official NL ball.(Sold by Lelands, acquired originally from Jones)
1968 World Series- Bob Gibson’s Game One Victory ball at Busch Stadium, Official NL ball. (Sold at MastroNet by Bob Gibson)
1967 World Series- Bob Gibson’s Game One Victory Game Ball at Fenwas Park, Official AL ball (Sold at MastroNet by Bob Gibson)
1967 World Series- Bob Gibson’s Game Four Victory Game Ball at Busch Stadium, Official NL ball (Sold at MastroNet by Bob Gibson)
1967 World Series- Bob Gibson’s Game Seven Victory Game Ball at Fenway Park, Official AL ball (Sold at MastroNet by Bob Gibson)
1964 World Series- Bob Gibson’s Game Five Last Out Victory Ball at Yankee Stadium, Official AL ball. (Sold at MastroNet by Bob Gibson)
1963 World Series- Mickey Mantle’s 15th WS Home Run Ball at Dodger Stedium, Official NL ball. (Sold at Superior Galleries in 1993, alleged to have been caught by fan James J. Cullen, w/supporting LA Times article)
1962 World Series- Last Out Ball Game Seven, at Candelstick Park, Official NL ball. (Baseball Hall of Fame Collection)
1961 World Series- First Pitch Baseballs (2) Thrown by Dummy Hoy and Bill Mckechnie, Game One at Crosley Field, Official NL balls. (Sold at Lelands in 2003)
1959 World Series- Ted Kluszewski’s “Game Five Last Out Baseball” at Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, Official NL ball (Sold by Lelands from Ted Kluszewski Collection)
1956 World Series- Don Larsen’s Perfect Game last out ball at Yankee Stadium, markings are not clear but appears to be Official AL ball.
1956 World Series- Don Larsen’s Perfect Game, game used ball at Yankee Stadium, Official AL ball. (Consigned to Christie’s in 1994 by NY Daily Mirror sportswriter Lawrence Lewin).
1953 World Series- Carl Erskine’s “11 Strike-Out Game 3 Ball,” at Ebbets Field, Official NL ball. (Museum of NYC Exhibition, loan from State Senator Edward Ford).
1951 World Series-Joe DiMaggio Home Run Ball, Game 4 at Polo Grounds, NY. Official NL ball. (Sold at Hunt Auctions in 2006, consigned by family of fan who caught ball w/documentation)
1945 World Series- Roy Hughes “Last Baseball Used in WS” Game Seven at Wrigley Field, Official NL ball (Sold at Lelands in 2002 “Obtained from Roy Hughes.” Also being sold in Heritage’s current auction)
1940 World Series- Bucky Walters’ Game Six ball at Cincinnati, Official NL ball (sold at Hunt Auctions by the Walters family)
1939 World Series- Frank Crosetti’s Game Four “Final Put-Out Ball (Last Out of Series)” at Cincinnati, Official NL ball (Sold at Superior Auctions in 1997 and later at Lelands. Ball was sold by Crosetti)
1938 World Series- Game Two-Last Out Ball at Wrigley Field, Official NL ball. (Baseball Hall of Fame, Gehrig Donation)
1927 World Series- Lou Gehrig’s “last ball of the 1st game of the World Series,” at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Official NL ball (Donated to HOF by Gehrig’s mother)
1926 World Series- Lou Gehrig’s “last ball of the 5th game of the World Series,” at Sportsman’s Park, St. Louis, Official NL ball (Donated to HOF by Gehrig’s mother)
Oddly enough, the only other reference we could find for an auctioneer claiming that a World Series game used ball from the opposite league was legitimate was for an alleged ball from Don Larsen’s perfect game in 1956. Lelands offered an Official National League Warren Giles ball from “the collection of a family friend of the Yankees whose father entertained the Bronx Bombers for years.” Lelands said the man was “given this ball by Larsen on October 8, 1956.” In regard to the ball being an official NL ball instead of an official AL ball, Lelands claimed, “National League balls were sometimes used in AL parks in the World Series.”
We asked Mike Hefner of Lelands how they came to this conclusion and he said, “Over the years we have seen some balls from the opposite league that are marked as World Series game balls, including the two Larsen balls. Those had letters from Don Larsen saying they were used in the game.” Hefner agreed that it was the norm for the home team to furnish balls in the World Series but added, “Who knows, maybe a few balls could have got mixed into play for a Yankee and Dodger series since there was no real team travel and the ballparks were so close to each other.”
Don Larsen signed these two National League balls for the recipients on the day of his perfect ga,me in 1956. Years later he claimed both were actually used in the game as well.
Lelands sold another ball alleged to be from Larsen’s perfect game which also was an official National League Warren Giles ball. That ball was sold in 2005 and was allegedly signed by Larsen and Sal Maglie “immediately after the game” for pro basketball player “Moose” Miller. The ball was accompanied by LOAs from Miller and Don Larsen. Miller said umpire Tom Gorman gave him the ball “minutes after” the game ended.
We also asked Chris Ivy, of Heritage Auctions, for an explanation of how an AL ball could have been used in Game Four of the 1947 World Series at Ebbets Field. Ivy told us, “While you’re correct that the conventional wisdom states that the home team supplied World Series baseballs, this was not a hard and fast rule, and we’ve encountered a number of well-documented exceptions. Most notably, we refer you to Lot 98 of the Sotheby’s/SCP June 2006 auction. It’s the final out ball from Game Five of the 1947 World Series, the game after the Bevens contest. It’s an American League ball from Ebbets Field, consigned by the family of Yankees catcher Aaron Robinson, who also supplied a period image of him posing with the ball.” There is, however, no way to prove the ball in the photo is the same ball sold at auction. Ivy also pointed to the Lelands’ offering of the alleged ball from Larsen’s perfect game in 1956 and an alleged 1931 World Series ball sold by MastroNet in 2001 that had no supporting provenance. (Heritage’s current auction also featuresanother ballalleged to be the first home run hit in Game 1 of the 1924 World Series, played in Washington, D.C. That ball is an official National League ball.)
Seth Swirsky posted this letter from Yogi Berra describing how he gave Bill Bevens the last out ball from Game Four of the 1947 World Series.
For the past decade this alleged 1947 World Series ball has been part of the collection of songwriter Seth Swirsky and was featured on his website, Seth.com along with the letter from Yogi Berra, with an earlier date from Feb. 21, 2000. When Lelands sold the ball in 2002 they made no mention of a Berra letter, only stating that there was an “LOA” and that the ball was, “Ex-Barry Halper Collection.”
Heritage’s current lot description states that, “Berra’s letter is addressed to famed collector Barry Halper.” It appears that in the letter Berra is just conveying his recollections of giving Bevens the last out ball and does not specifically mention Halper’s ball, which was claimed to have been acquired directly from Bevens. Despite that fact, Heritage Auctions describes Yogi’s correspondence as a “letter of provenance.” The Berra letter Swirsky posted on his website was dated February 21, 2000, but the letter that accompanies the Heritage ball is dated January 14, 2003. The bodies of both letters are identical, as are the Berra signature. Only the dates differ.
We contacted the Yogi Berra Museum in Montclair, New Jersey, to see what Berra and Museum representatives thought about Heritage’s characterization of his letter in their lot description of the alleged Bevens ball. We also inquired whether the museum had any other World Series game balls from Yogi’s career. Museum director David Kaplan responded, “Yogi didn’t keep or save any World Series balls. The only one we have on display is a 1947 ball from a donor, but it doesn’t identify which game.” Kaplan continued, “In fact, Yogi tells a story about bringing his 2,000 hit ball home, only to find later his kids had used it to play ball with.” Kaplan directed us to Berra’s sons Tim and Dale for our inquiry about Yogi’s letter to Halper. Dale Berra spoke with us, but declined comment. Neither Dale nor Yogi Berra answered whether the Yankee legend recalled what types of balls were used in World Series play either.
To crack this mystery we thought it might help to ask an umpire who actually worked World Series games when both NL and AL balls were used in play and we were able to track down veteran MLB umpire Jim Evans at his umpiring school in Colorado. Evans was on the field when Seth Swirsky’s 1986 World Series ball rolled through Bill Buckner’s legs and on the field when Reggie belted out three home runs in 1977. It was in regard to that series of 1977 that Evans was able to shed some light on the protocol for baseballs used in the Fall Classic.
Evans said, “I was the plate umpire for game 5 in Los Angeles and before that game someone from the Dodgers brought in 9 dozen balls into our dressing room, they were all National League balls. You see the teams had lots of balls left over from the season, so they used those in the series and it was the plate umpire’s job to rub them up properly with the mud. Nowadays they tip clubhouse guys to rub them up, but back then us umpires did it ourselves. I wouldn’t trust anyone affiliated with one of the clubs to do it, it was my responsibility to get them rubbed right. This type of thing went back many years when I was on umpire crews with guys like Nestor Chylak and John McSherry. But 1977 was the first World Series I worked.”
We asked Evans if he thought an American League ball could make its way into play at a National League park like the alleged Bevens ball did. Evans responded, “I don’t think so, all of the baseballs were supplied by the Dodgers in my series in ‘77. It wasn’t until they started making those special World Series balls that someone from the Commissioner’s office would deliver the balls to us before the game.” We asked him if a ball could get into play accidentally and he said, “I suppose so. I could see if a ball or two were left over in my bag from the previous game at the other park. It could be possible in that type of situation.”
We told Evans about the few National League balls alleged to have been used at Yankee Stadium in 1956 for Don Larsen’s perfect game and he added, “There’s about 200,000 people who say they were at that game, right? I don’t know about the chain of ownership on those balls, all I can tell you about is about the Buckner Ball, I saw Ed Montague walk off the field with that one, I guess he gave it to a Mets official after.”
Collecting any game-used item involves a big leap of faith and the alleged Bevens ball still presents more questions than answers. While its not impossible that the ball could have been accidentally put into play that day in 1947, the provenance issues presented by Barry Halper’s misrepresented Bevens jersey compound the doubts already realized due to the league affiliation of the ball. The fact that Yogi Berra won’t answer whether his letter to Halper was an actual “letter of provenance,” as the auction house alleges, just adds more to the mystery.
If Yogi talks we’re figuring he might offer a Yogi-ism about his letter to Halper: ”I didn’t really say everything I said.”
UPDATE: The Bevens Ball sold at Heritage for $5,676 and the “Buckner Ball” sold for $418,250.
Christy Mathewson signs a fan's ball at the 1912 World Series. This photo proves Matty did actually sign baseballs, but few genuine ones have survived.
Fans called him “Big-Six” and he’s surely lived up to that nickname posthumously with alleged examples of his signature on baseballs commanding over $100,000 at auction. Each of these record-breaking Christy Mathewson single-signed baseballs have two things in common; a letter of authenticity from either PSA/DNA or JSA (James Spence Authentication); and serious speculation by experts as to whether any of them are authentic. Hobby veteran Richard Simon told us, “For such a rare autograph there seems to be a lot of Christy Mathewson single signed baseballs in the hobby. Perhaps there are just a few too many.”
Robert Edward Auctions and SportsCardsPlus are currently offeringtwo more single signed Matty balls, both with LOAs from JSA claiming they are genuine. Robert Edward Auctions even goes as far to claim that Mathewson signed their ball on Sept. 30, 1921, the same day that a benefit game was played at the Polo Grounds to raise money for his medical bills at the time. We reported in our last “Chin Music” column that Mathewson never attended that game and, according to a New York Times report published on Oct. 1, 1921, Mathewson missed the event from a sick bed at his residence on Saranac Lake in the Adirondack Mountains. REA is still fraudulently selling the ball as being signed by Mathewson that day, with no proof whatsoever to support their claim. In their lot description REA quotes a 1977 book written by sportswriter Fred Lieb who described an auction of Mathewson signed baseballs at that 1921 event. But as baseball historian Glenn Stout has stated in his own work, Lieb was a devout occultist who believed he could communicate with the dead and that he also possessed healing powers. So, perhaps REA is aware of Lieb healing the sick Matty and bringing him to the baseball auction at the Polo Grounds that day. If Lieb were alive today his Ouija Board would make him a great authenticator of Matty balls, however, without access to his gift collectors have had to settle on the skills of PSA and JSA.
It’s par for the course, with auction houses and authenticators failing to do their homework, and in some cases, perhaps, committing outright fraud. The messy history of questionable Mathewson balls hitting the market takes us back to a MastroWest auction in March of 2000, which featured a high-grade ball with letters of authenticity written by both James Spence and PSA/DNA.
It was the premier lot in that 2000 auction billed as “An Unbelievable Christy Mathewson Single Signed Baseball,” and included the alleged original mailing canister sent to the recipient of the prized baseball bearing Matty’s signature. MastroWest wrote, “The black fountain pen ink speaks to us from the year 1912, an 8/11/12 date postmarked on the original mailing box sent from New York City to Allentown, Pa. It has been determined that Mathewson himself wrote the recipients address on the mailing label. It is within the realm of possibility that it was Christy Mathewson who took this ball to the post office and mailed it personally.” MastroWest assured bidders that the “certitude” of the signature was attested to by experts James Spence, Kevin Keating and PSA/DNA.
It all sounded quite amazing, but like they said, entirely “Unbelievable,” for the gem mint baseball that Matty allegedly autographed was actually manufactured by Spalding between 1921 and 1924, nearly a decade later than the alleged postmark on the mailing canister. When informed by several hobbyists of their stunning error in authentication, MastroWest had no choice but to withdraw the lot from the sale. It was the first of many mistakes made by the alleged experts in the field who would encounter the work of the same forger years later, minus the embarrassment.
These four balls are believed to feature forged signatures of Christy Mathewson. They all appear to be signed in the same hand but not Mathewson's.
In our opinion, the work of the Matty forger that was first authenticated in 2000 (top left) reappeared in a Grey Flannel auction in 2003 (bottom left); in a Hunt Auction in 2005 (top right); and in a Heritage Auctions preview in March of 2012 (bottom right). While Spence and PSA had implicit knowledge of the 2000 forgery featured in MastroWest’s sale (and access to the forgery as an exemplar), PSA still authenticated the Grey Flannel ball and JSA still authenticated the Hunt Auctions ball, despite the fact that the handwriting was clearly in the same hand of the 2000 MastroWest forger. The Mathewson ball in Grey Flannel sold for $29,791 and the Hunt ball sold for a then-record price of $110,000 at Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game auction. The record-breaking ball prompted James Spence Authentication (JSA) to take out a full page in Sports Collectors Digest advertising the $110,000 sale price and the fact that the ball had received their, “Ultimate Letter of Authenticity.” (The same Matty ball was re-sold with its JSA LOA in 2007 at Historic Auctions for $91,000.)
JSA took out this full-page ad in SCD to advertise their authentication of the $110,000 Mathewson single signed ball that sold at Hunt Auctions. The ball, however, was a forgery similar to another that had fooled Spence in 2000.
In 2007, another Mathewson ball with a JSA LOA sold at Huggins & Scott Auctions for a whopping $161,000. Soon after that sale, hobby newsletter, The Sweet Spot, published an article about Mathewson’s handwriting and interviewed James Spence of JSA. In the article, “Two Styles, Two Speeds From Matty,” James Spence was quoted saying, “When you sell a ball for more than $160,000, that’s going to raise the eyebrows and it’s also going to raise eyebrows with the forgers. And they’re going to work on it hard till it’s perfected. So, obviously, we (authenticators) have to be on our toes.”
In that same article, the Sweet Spot reported that Spence was in possession of “35 or 40 exemplars of signed Mathewson documents in his autograph library.” Considering Spence’s advance knowledge that the example he authenticated in 2000 was a forgery, it is stunning that he could make these comments and continue to authenticate other similar forgeries.
The example that sold for $161,000 in 2007 was followed up by another questionable Matty single signed ball sold at Mastro Auctions in August of 2007 for $114,000. Another controversial example sold at Hunt Auctions for $44,000 in 2009. All three autographed balls were accompanied by LOAs from JSA and PSA/DNA (the Hunt ball was only LOAd by JSA).
These alleged Mathewson balls sold for: (Left) $161,000 at Huggins & Scott in 2007; (Center) $114,000 at Mastro Auctions in 2007;(Right) $44,000 at Hunt Auctions in 2009.
It is our opinion that none of these three baseballs should have been authenticated by either JSA or PSA. The signatures are terribly labored to the point that they appear distorted (the Hunt ball was actually described by the auctioneer as having “partial enhancement” having been gone-over.) In our opinion, none of the three balls appear to be written in Mathewson’s hand and the formation of each letter contrasts genuine printed Mathewson samples we have had the opportunity to review. If anything, the experts should have rendered a “no opinion” letter for these three balls. We would challenge the authenticators to produce the authentic exemplars they used to determine these three balls as genuine. Jimmy Spence himself told the Sweet Spot in 2007, “Some forgeries are so badly done that we don’t even put them in our exemplar file. We probably have about 100 different examples that are worth recording but some are so pathetic…” Spence could very well attribute his comments to these three questionable balls.
Ron Keurajian, expert and author of Baseball Hall of Fame Autographs: A Reference Guide (McFarland, 2012), has long been critical of the authenticity of the “dubious” Mathewson balls that have appeared at auction. In 2004, he wrote an article for SCD stating, “For years these balls have been passed around like cold germs and have gained a semblance of authenticity. But don’t be fooled, a Mathewson-signed ball is extremely rare and a genuine single signed ball probably has not been offered on the market in the past 20 years. I can honestly say I have never seen a Matty ball that I would feel comfortable pronouncing as genuine.” We asked Keurajian if eight years after he wrote his original SCD article he still feels the same and he responded in the affirmative.
If all three of the balls we believe cannot be authenticated were added to the forged examples illustrated earlier in this article, it is quite possible that PSA/DNA and JSA may have authenticated close to half-a-million dollars worth of bogus Mathewson balls.
Chris Ivy, Director of Sports Auctions at Heritage told us that the Matty ball consigned to Heritage’s spring auction signed “Compliments of Christy Mathewson” (illustrated earlier in this article) was rejected by their authenticators. Ivy did not disclose specifically if it was PSA or JSA who rejected the ball, but the rejection is telling in that it is an admission by the authenticators that they have made enormous mistakes with the $110,000 Hunt Auctions ball and the $30,000 Grey Flannel ball. Based upon this rejection it will be interesting to see if either JSA or PSA have informed their auction house clients of their change of opinion. Will the auction houses provide refunds for the winning bidders and will the authenticators be liable to pay the auction houses for their fatal errors?
These two alleged Mathewson balls are currently being offered by SCP (left) and REA (right). Both were authenticated by JSA, but what's the chance they are genuine?
All of this being said, how can any collector bid with confidence on the current JSA-certed Mathewson balls being offered in the REA and SCP spring sales? The SCP Matty ball is being sold by ex-Yankee hurler David Wells and is highly suspect to say the least. The SCP auction description even notes that PSA/DNA “rendered an opinion of not authentic” when it was submitted. JSA authenticated the ball.
Mathewson utilized two handwriting styles in the course of his lifetime, one of them being a very cursive, almost printed style that contrasted his regular flowing script signature. As the above examples illustrate, this hybrid printed/script style that Mathewson allegedly signed on baseballs is one of the easiest for skilled forgers to replicate and the fakes that have flooded the market in the past fifteen years have wreaked havoc on collectors who have purchased what they believed were legitimate Mathewson signed balls. In our next installment we will discuss the authenticity of the two Matty balls appearing in the current spring auctions and present an in-depth examination of the genuine handwriting of Christy Mathewson.
UPDATE (May 2nd): MATTY BALLS IN THE SPRING AUCTIONS- It appears that a $10,000 bid on David Wells’ alleged single-signed Mathewson ball in SCP’s current auction is no longer showing on the SCP site. The lot now has no bids. The Wells collection also includes a genuine Mathewson signed WW 1 document signed in Matty’s hybrid printed/script style. Authenticators need only look at this example to see the problems with most all Matty single signed balls.
David Wells is also selling this authentic Mathewson signed document which highlights why his alleged single-signed ball is problematic.
REA has finally added a “note” to their lot description of the alleged Matty ball being offered in its Spring sale. The auction house wrote:
(Note: A period newspaper article exists that indicates Matty was not actually present at the game, in which case if true all the Mathewson signed balls were obviously actually signed in advance of the game.)
Apparently, REA still doubts the veracity of the New York Times‘ reporting of the event the day after the Matty event in 1921. Now, REA seems sure their ball was signed before the event by Mathewson but have failed to change the lot description title, which still states definitively that Mathewson signed that ball on the day of his event at the Polo Grounds which, of course, is impossible as reported in the Times:
The NY Times reported that Matty missed the 1921 Matty Day event and sent a message from his sick-bed in Saranac Lake, in Upstate New York.
REA should also disclose to their bidders that the auction house has handled and sold this same ball at auction in 1998. Oregon Trail Auctions, then a division of Robert Edward Auctions, offered the same ball in 1998 and made no mention of the ball being from the 1921 Matty event (even though the next lot in that auction was a program from that very same benefit game.)
REA sold its current Matty ball back in 1998 when it owned Oregon Trail, and there was no mention that the ball was tied to the 1921 Matty Benefit at the Polo Grounds.
PSA allegedly confirms the Cobb cut is a fake, but done by hand?
-After demanding apologies from all those who called out his PSA-authenticated and slabbed Ty Cobb cut signature as a sophisticated, laser copied forgery, Donavon Arabie, told some fellow collectors that he sent the cut back to PSA for examination and said that the authentication giant allegedly says it was the creation of a “Amazing Forger” and done by hand and not machine. Aribe says PSA refunded him his authentication fees and sent the item back to him after it was pulled from eBay by its fraud division.
-Richard Simon has requested to examine the raw Cobb forgery, hoping to clear things up with a physical inspection of the actual item. Simon says he is anxious to view the original in person and has offered to reveal his findings on Net54, but Aribe has told collectors he plans on destroying the Cobb forgery instead. He says he’s going to burn it. We hope the FBI gets to him before he lights the match.
-Arabie says he purchased the bogus cut at an “estate sale” and discovered it in-between some old Goudey cards. So beware collectors of this “Amazing Cobb Forger” who secretly drops his handiwork into estate sale lots, so that unsuspecting collectors can, in turn, turn a nice profit.
-Net54 took an informal poll that had 38 people correctly identifying the Cobb forgery as a direct copy of Ron Keurajian’s authentic original, while only five people believed it was an entirely different item. So far, no statement has been issued by Joe Orlando or Steve Grad to PSA/DNA customers with slabbed cuts in their collections. How will they ever know their cuts are legit considering this Cobb that got by their experts? As long as the cuts slabbed, do they really care?
-Heritage’s sale of stolen artifacts continued with their offering of a rare Nap Lajoie Horner cabinet stolen from the National Baseball Library. After we reported it for Deadspin, the auction house removed the item from the sale, but will it really make its way back to Cooperstown? Still no comment from the Hall.
-Heritage is also offering another item believed to be stolen from the New York Public Library, a signed Harry Wright telegram. At least its really signed by Wright unlike another telegram authenticated by JSA last year that was signed by a telegraph operator.
-Heritage’s auction preview featured many items that didn’t make it into their Spring sale, including the forged-mint Ty Cobb single signed ball we also wrote about for Deadspin. Another Cobb ball, in beat-up condition and appearing to be the work of the same forger, also vanished from the sale. We wonder how many other items came from the consignor of both of those balls.
-eBay’s removal of the JSA-certed $80,000 Walter Johnson ball from eBay a few weeks ago, was followed by the fraud division’s withdrawal of a $29,999 Goose Goslin single signed ball also due to “authenticity issues.” Spence has a checkered history authenticating signatures alleged to have been signed by Goose, especially yellow Hall of Fame plaques as reported last year on Autograph Alert.
eBay removed this Drew Max certed Sam Crawford ball due to authenticity issues.
- Pawn Stars expert, Drew Max, also had several of his LOAd items removed from eBay by the fraud team for additional authenticity issues. Single signed balls alleged to be signed by Rogers Hornsby, Wahoo Sam Crawford and Babe Ruth vanished from the eBay website last week. How long before Max joins the ranks of the so-called authenticators on eBay’s “Banned List”?
-eBay has also removed PSA-certed copies of Christy Mathewson’s “Won in the Ninth,” which are believed to feature secretarial signatures of the Hall of Famer.
-Controversy is brewing over the grading of some high-end T-206 baseball cards appearing in the Spring sales. Allegations have been leveled stating that Goodwin and Co. is offering rare Eddie Plank and Sherry Magie cards that have been trimmed like the infamous Gretzky-McNall Honus Wagner card. Grading company SGC says the cards have not been trimmed although, to date, there had never been a Plank with a Piedmont 150 back that had been given a number grade.
-Dan McKee has called for some additional provenance information from Goodwin, but it appears they are only willing to say that the card ”has not been in circulation for “at least” 30 years, safely tucked away in our consigner’s collection.” The consignor is Houston businessman David Finkelstein.
-Dan McKee told us, “This is comical, do you really think SGC really believes the Plank isn’t hacked? SGC should have just graded it and been done with it like they do any other card. Issuing a special letter trying to defend grading it just makes it look like something strange is going on.”
Could T206s like this Eddie Plank have been trimmed down for grading purposes? Where's this Plank today?
-Hauls of Shame has compiled images of over 70 existing T206 Plank cards including several that have not appeared in public as graded examples by either SGC or PSA. It appears there were some oversized “Jumbo Planks” documented in the past few decades and sources indicate that some of these examples could have been trimmed down to mimic a factory cut unlike the existing Piedmont 150 Planks that have been hand cut from sheets.
-Dan McKee adds, “If a card is over-sized on all four sides and a professional printing company cuts all four down, then it will slab, guaranteed.”
Wagner owners think this Honus in REA was graded improperly/
-T206 Wagner owners have told us they feel that the Wagner being offered by REA has been overgraded. One owner of a high-grade Wagner told us, “The card clearly should have been given a MK designation. I would not want to own this card at any level with the stamp on the back and ink smudge on the front. The tie in to the 1910 World Series is a poor attempt to gloss over the fact the card has been defaced.”
-Dan McKee agrees that the Wagner card deserves an “MK qualifier.”
-A Mathewson single signed ball appeared on the Heritage auction preview for a month or so, but never made it into the auction. Wonder why? It looks exactly like several others previously authenticated by the TPAs. Did it get shot down?
This alleged single signed Mathewson ball appeared on the Heritage preview but never made its way into its Spring sale.
-Speaking of Mathewson single-signed balls, an offering in REAs spring sale, LOT 787: Historically Significant Christy Mathewson Single Signed Ball – Signed by Mathewson on the Day of his 1921 Testimonial at the Polo Grounds,has several problems including this one revealed in the lot description REA wrote: “The date on the ball certainly suggests that possibility. In addition, the fact that the game was held as a fundraiser, with the knowledge that signed balls were to be sold that day, probably means that Mathewson was discouraged from autographing baseballs for fans that afternoon. Of course, this could also be one of a few special balls Mathewson signed for his close friends or old teammates who came out to honor him on his special day. Obviously, we will never know for sure, but the one thing that does appear certain is that this ball was signed by Mathewson on one of the most memorable and emotional days of his life.”
That’s quite a description of the Mathewson testimonial event at the Polo Grounds in 1921. There’s just one big problem: The New York Times reported that Mathewson never attended the event and was confined to a sick bed at his home in Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks. Matty sent a message to his friends “through the committee in charge of the testimonial.” The ball comes with a JSA LOA.
Look out for our upcoming reports on Mathewson autographed baseballs.
Experts question the authenticity of this Ruth ball offered by Hunt.
-Babe Ruth balls have also flooded the Spring sales and suspect specimens abound. We’ve been inundated with inquiries questioning the authenticity of the Ruth ball gracing the back cover of the Hunt Auctionsspring catalog. Lots of head scratching on this one authenticated by JSA. The signature exhibits stoppages, uneven flow and the appearance of possible enhancement of a signature beneath the jet black india ink that is now visible. The current bid on the ball is $19,965.
This JSA certed ball features an enhanced and gone-over signature of John McGraw.
-REAs current auction features an enhanced and gone over balladvertised as the genuine article with an LOA from JSA. The ball features gone-over signatures of John McGraw, Miller Huggins and Pat Moran. Evidence of the tracing is clearly apparent with the side panel featuring an unaltered Babe Ruth autograph that JSA calls a “classic clubhouse signature” of the Bambino.
The signature JSA calls a "classic clubhouse" of Babe Ruth is unaltered, unlike the others on the ball being sold by REA.
Be on the lookout for additional reports about problematic items in the Spring auctions of 2012.
This alleged single signed ball by HOFer Walter Johnson was listed for sale on eBay for $80,000. Experts doubt its authenticity.
The eBay listing said that Walter Johnson single signed baseballs “Don’t grow on trees,” but for $80,000 you could have walked away with one accompanied by a fancy letter of authenticity signed by Jimmy Spence of JSA just by clicking the “Buy it Now” icon on the eBay store page of seller Casey Melchionno of Casey at Bat Collectibles of Revere, MA.But that was before eBay stepped in and removed the ball from the auction giant’s website. Sources indicate that the ball was pulled by eBay’s Fraud Team because of “authenticity issues.”
The Walter Johnson autograph appearing on the alleged 1920s to 1930s baseball that was offered for sale doesn’t resemble the authentic signature of the Hall of Fame pitcher nicknamed “The Big Train.” When shown the image of the ball appeared on the eBay website expert Ron Keurajian told us he was already aware of the ball and noted that the Johnson signature was “apocryphal”. He added, “In my opinion the signature on that ball is a forgery.” Hauls of Shame shares that opinion about the signature that lacks the fluidity and feel of Johnson’s handwriting and appears to be labored and executed in a not-so-steady hand.
The signature, originally authenticated by JSA in 2010, was touted by the seller as “The Finest Walter Johnson Single Signed Baseball in the Hobby JSA,” however, it appears that the eBay seller may be another victim of authentication malpractice committed by a third-party authenticator.
These four exemplars depict authentic signatures of Walter Johnson that will be featured in Ron Keurajian's book.
Hauls of Shamewas first informed about the sale of the questioned Johnson ball back in January when a thread on Net54, featured a discussion about the ball between the seller and another collector named Rick Gallway, who questioned its authenticity.
After Gallway called out the ball as a counterfeit, he exchanged a pair of direct messages with the owner-seller of the ball who sent personal emails to Gallway asking him to refrain from talking about the challenged Johnson baseball. In the emails Gallway provided to us, Melchionno wrote, ” I really don’t need that type of unwarranted negative criticism. I am sure you understand with all of craziness in today’s market it is hard enough dealing with these types of autographs. And I go way out of my way to have all of items authenticated by supposedly the best in the business to make everybody happy. So I am asking you kindly to please not do that. I would really appreciate it if you could remove or edit your last comment stating the Walter Johnson ball is a fake as it is potentially tarnishing it.”
Melchionno was alluding in his email to the authenticator he endorses on his website, James Spence Authentication (JSA).The third-party authentication company has been recognized as a leader (along with PSA/DNA) by eBay and all of the major auction houses. Despite a myriad of expensive errors, however, JSA still receives strong support from collectors and dealers who rely on their services to buy and sell items. Recent investigations by Hauls of Shame in regard to high-end Babe Ruth autographs and signed items from the 1939 Baseball Hall of Fame Induction in Cooperstown have opened the eyes of many to the serious deficiencies related to JSA’s work product. Now, the $80,000 Walter Johnson ball removed from eBay has opened the door for a closer examination of other Walter Johnson autographs previously certified by the third party authenticators (TPAs). Looking at less than a dozen big-ticket Walter Johnson autographed baseballs sold at auction with JSA paperwork, it is shocking to see the great disparity from example to example and the visible evidence suggesting that Johnson may have never signed the majority of the baseballs we examined images of.
The first group of eight balls were all sold by major auction houses with JSA authentication (aside from the former eBay listing):
All eight of these baseballs allegedly signed by HOFer Walter Johnson were certified as authentic by JSA. Some experts, however, doubt that any of them are genuine.
We showed these eight JSA-certified Walter Johnson signed baseballs toseveral experts who each told us that in their opinion, they would not be able to certify them as authentic. One expert thought that the ball shown in the second row, left, might be genuine. As for the images of the second set of Johnson balls, the experts thought they were genuine, but there was some disagreement about the example shown on the top row, right, which would need to be examined in person to render a definitive opinion.
These four balls appear to bear authentic signatures of Walter Johnson.
Similar to our on-going investigation of the Babe Ruth single signed baseballs, this study of Johnson’s signature illuminates further problems with the authentication capabilities of outfits like JSA and PSA. It is the opinion of Hauls of Shame that similar problems exist for nearly every Hall of Famer signature that the TPAs have handled.
Collectors, dealers and auctioneers have, for more than a decade, placed their trust in the hands of PSA and JSA for their authentications, but a closer look at the substance of their work has many in the hobby questioning their credibility. All collectors need to do is open their eyes and take a closer look at these Johnson balls to render their own opinions.
The key question posed by examining these two groups of signed Johnson balls is, “What exemplars did the TPA’s use to determine their authenticity?”
James Spence and JSA did not respond to inquiries for comment on the withdrawal of the eBay listing accompanied by their LOA. The eBay seller Casey at Bat Collectibles also declined comment.
This Cobb fake was "slabbed" and certed by PSA/DNA.
Hot on the heels of their reported authentication of a fake Ty Cobb signature on a Little League ball made fifteen years after the Hall of Famer died (as reported by us on Deadspin last Friday), PSA/DNA has made another monumental authentication error. A Cobb item appearing on eBay for the past few weeks as an alleged cut signature of Cobb that was certified authentic and graded in one of PSAs air tight encapsulated holders was just pulled by eBay’s Fraud Investigation Team.
Collectors refer to these items as “slabbed signatures” and they have become an extremely marketable commodity thanks to PSA who has sold consumers on the belief that such items certified by them are unquestionably authentic.
The eBay seller BigDaddySportsCards of Alexandria, Louisiana, was offering it for almost $1,300.00 until the item was removed from the site earlier today. The seller was apparently sold on PSAs expertise stating that the, “Gorgeous Green Ink Cut” has been graded a “Mint 9″ by the company that is a subsidiary of Collectors Universe (NASDAQ: CLCT).
Unfortunately for “Big Daddy” and PSA, the nation’s leading authority on Cobb’s signature happened to be browsing the eBay Cobb offerings and immediately determined the offering was a counterfeit.
Ron Keurajian is the man who in 2009 told the Baseball Hall of Fame its Ty Cobb diary, purchased from Barry Halper, in 1998, was a fake. The FBI agreed with him and the diary, forged by Cobb’s biographer Al Stump and once displayed in Cooperstown, has been wished away into a cornfield.
When Keurajian saw the slabbed Cobb cut on eBay he noticed something looked familiar about it. It was familiar because Keurajian actually owns the exact same authentic original signature that Cobb actually signed on a full-size government post card, not on a cut signature. PSA authenticated what appears to be a laser copied piece of paper (perhaps old) that features a facsimile of Keurajian’s original example. The PSA holder would have to be opened to determine what process was used to create the forgery.
This is the authentic signed Cobb postcard owned by Cobb expert Ron Keurajian. The signature on the card was copied and used to create the PSA authenticated forgery on eBay.
In 2009, Keurajian wrote an article for Autograph Magazine about Cobb’s handwriting and utilized this same Cobb signature as an exemplar in the article, which is still posted on the magazine’s website. The forger simply grabbed the screen image of his authentic exemplar and then proceeded to manufacture his fake. (The signature is also being utilized as an exemplar in Keurajian’s soon to be released book, Baseball Hall of Fame Autographs: A Reference Guide, by McFarland).
That bogus signature was submitted to the experts at PSA/DNA and was subsequently authenticated and graded a “Mint 9.”
This forgery was likely created with the help of a laser printer and some old paper. PSA deemed it authentic and slabbed it in one of its encapsulated holders originally created for graded baseball cards.
PSA/DNA CEO, Joe Orlando, wrote a column in June of 2010, on the company website detailing the success of PSAs system of grading and slabbing cut signatures and also stated that the process created a great marketing tool for the sale of cut signatures, which have long been considered suspect by collectors and dealers.
In his article, “The Hobby of Holders,” Orlando wrote, “There is no doubt that if a collectible can be encapsulated inside of a PSA holder, the collectible tends to become more marketable.”
Orlando added, “Even with autographs, when we decided to utilize the various holders we already had in-house to encapsulate signed items such as trading cards, index cards, postcards and cuts, it changed the entire market so we decided to expand the holder selection. Over the last several years, we have slabbed hundreds of thousands of signed items because the hobby demanded it. Just like with cards and tickets, the PSA holder completely changed the market.”
eBay's fraud investigation team had the bogus Cobb cut signature removed from the site after learning Ron Keurajian owns the original.
But is it a real market? Is this Cobb fake indicative of other fakes included in the “hundreds of thousands” of autographs PSA has already slabbed? How many? Does this problem warrant a recall of all PSA slabbed cuts? Is this the only time this forger (or others) has fooled PSA in this manner? Nervous collectors holding PSA products in their own holdings are asking the same questions.
One collector and vocal critic of PSA, Travis Roste, responded to the news and told us, “How can a laser copy ‘autograph’ have flow? Pen pressure? Or did they mean printerhead pressure? As the auction houses put it, ”Encapsulated by PSA/DNA for unquestioned authenticity.”
Veteran dealer and authenticator Richard Simon was not surprised by the news, “I guess that they don’t look very closely to see if anything they are examining is laser copied as they had apparently made this mistake before.”
Once these cuts are encapsulated there is a barrier placed between the item and any future examination that could determine if its authentic or a laser copied forgery. One prominent collector told us he has one way to get around that problem. He said, “I could care less about those slabs, when I buy one of those slabbed items I have them cracked open and put the plastic in the trash.”
Sources close to eBay operations confirmed to Haulsofshame.com that the Cobb cut was removed from the auction site “for authenticity issues.” The identity of “BigDaddySportsCards” was not available in order to ask who actually submitted the alleged Cobb signature to PSA for certification.
Sources indicate the FBI, who have recently been taking a closer look at the business practices of the third party authenticators, are aware of the situation, which could represent an important lead in cracking down on forgery rings that have been flooding the market with fakes.
The NYPL thefts are currently being investigated by the FBI.
It is the best-documented stolen artifact in baseball history, an 1879 contract between player Ezra Sutton and Harry Wright’s Boston Red Stockings that was donated to the New York Public Library in 1921 by the widow of Hall of Famer A. G. Spalding. The contract was the property of baseball pioneer Harry Wright and part of his personal archive that was bequeathed to the National League in 1896 as part of his last will and testament; It was documented by NYPL staff in correspondence to baseball historian Dr. Harold Seymour in the 1950s; It was referenced in newspaper articles published in The Sporting News and the Christian Science Monitor in 1922; It appeared in a public exhibition at the NYPL in 1922; It was documented in the original research notes of Dorothy Seymour Mills, who examined the contract in the NYPL (her notes are now housed at Cornell University); It is even confirmed by the current testimony of Mills today as she recalls holding the very same contract in her hands in the 1950s when it was part of volume two of the Harry Wright Correspondence Scrapbooks once housed in the famous A. G. Spalding Collection.
However, despite all of that documentation, that same contract currently appears on the website of Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas, Texas, as a lot in its upcoming April baseball auction in consignment from author and songwriter Seth Swirsky who is also selling the infamous “Buckner Ball” from the 1986 World Series and the original letter that banished “Shoeless” Joe Jackson from Baseball back in 1921. Heritage says the contract is “currently being reviewed by our catalogers,” and that a “written description will be available along with high resolution images soon.”
The controversy over the thefts at the NYPL in the 1970s came to a head in July of 2009, when Hunt Auctions offered a “rare cache of letters written to Harry Wright” in Major League Baseball’s All-Star FanFest auction. Reporting byNew York Times sportswriter Jack Curry and testimony from Dorothy Seymour Mills proved that several letters in the Hunt auction were footnoted in the work she and her husband performed on early baseball history and thus confirmed that the “rare cache” of documents belonged to the NYPL. The Federal Bureau of Investigation stepped in and commenced an official investigation into the purloined letters that were targeted as part of the 1970s heist at the Fifth Avenue Branch of the Library.
This 1879 contract of Ezra Sutton was once pasted into the Spalding Collection's manuscript scrapbboks, but today it appears for sale at Heritage.
At the time of the 2009 auction, it was also determined by this writer that several additional items sold at Sotheby’s in 1999 by New York Yankees limited partner, Barry Halper, were also documented in Dorothy Seymour Mills’s work as property of the NYPL. One of those items was Ezra Sutton’s 1879 c0ntract, which was purchased at Sotheby’s by collector Swirsky.
Before it appeared in the Sotheby’s catalog in 1999, the last public appearance of the Sutton contract was in the background of a photo of Halper, published in the 1984 New York Yankees yearbook. The contract was pictured in a frame hanging on the wall next to Halper’s desk in his Livingston, NJ, home. The agreement was also mentioned as “the earliest known player contract” in a 1995 feature article about Halper in Sports Illustrated called, “The Sultan of Swap.”
Beverly Hills songwriter Seth Swirsky purchased the contract for almost $5,000 at Sotheby’s in 1999 and, for the past decade, featured the contract as part of his collection on his website, Seth.com. In July of 2009, this writer first informed Swirsky that the contract was property of the NYPL, and in June of 2010, Hauls of Shame sent Swirsky all of the documentation illustrating that the contract was once part of the Spalding Collection.
This letter from NYPL "Keeper of Manuscripts," Robert Hill, to Dr. Harold Seymour in 1953 documents that the Sutton contract is property of the NYPL. A copy of this letter was presented to the contracts current owner Seth Swirsky.(Courtesy of the Rare and Manuscripts Collection, Cornell University)
Swirsky spoke to Hauls of Shame off the record and declined public comment on his ownership of the contract for the article. When Swirsky was first informed of the title issues with his Sotheby’s purchase in July of 2009, he removed the contract from his website Seth.com. The scan of the contract on the Heritage website is the first public appearance of the document since Swirsky’s removal of it from his own website.
As of June, 2010, it was unclear if the FBI or US Attorney’s had contacted Swirsky and taken possession of the stolen document. FBI special agent Jim Margolin at that time could neither confirm or deny that the Bureau had taken possession of the contract. Sources indicate that in the course of its nearly three-year investigation the FBI has taken possession of several stolen items, including all of the letters offered by Hunt Auctions in 2009. The current offering of the consigned contract on the Heritage website confirms that, despite the overwhelming evidence showing that the contract is NYPL property, the FBI and US Attorney have not yet taken action to recover the document for the NYPL.
Barry Halper died in 2005, and when the controversy over the sale of Harry Wright’s letters arose during the 2009 MLB sale, the Boston Herald contacted Halper associate and lead consultant for the 1999 Halper sale, Rob Lifson, president of RobertEdward Auctions, and asked him where Halper had acquired the stolen 1879 contract of Ezra Sutton. Lifson told Herald reporter, Dave Wedge, that he recalled Halper had acquired it in the “mid-1970s” from pioneer dealer Goodwin Goldfaden. In the summer of 2010 Hauls of Shame interviewed Goldfaden, who stated that he did not recall ever selling Halper the contract that was reported to have been the earliest baseball contract known to exist. Goldfaden also confirmed that Halper was one of his regular customers. Goldfaden denied comment on whether he had been questioned by FBI agents. Goldfaden passed away last month at the age of ninety-seven.
This article from the Christian Science Monitor in 1922 documents that the 1879 Sutton contract appeared in a public exhibition at NYPL, "At the end of the case along the east wall...."
In the summer of 2009, when it was confirmed that Hunt Auctions was selling Harry Wright’s stolen NYPL letters, chatter in the baseball collecting community focused on long-standing hobby rumors that auctioneer Rob Lifson had at one time been arrested for stealing rare items from the NYPL and that collector Barry Halper, a long-time customer and associate of Lifson’s, had acquired many of the stolen items in his collection from Lifson. In the past, one high placed hobby executive even went so far as to suggest that Halper had to post bail for Lifson after he was apprehended. Adding to the suspicions about Lifson’s role in the thefts were the documented sales of many other items stolen from the NYPL collection that appeared in sales of Robert Edward Auctions and in the 1999 Halper sale at Sotheby’s, in which Lifson was Halper’s hand-picked lead consultant for the $20 million auction extravaganza.
Lifson made overtures to several in the hobby to suppress public mention of his apprehension at the NYPL with one of them being, Leon Luckey, the moderator of Internet collector forum Net54. Luckey had made it known that he resented Lifson’s public persona as a hobby crusader and he privately told others that he heard Lifson was responsible for the NYPL thefts. It wasn’t until Luckey received cease and desist letters from Lifson’s attorney that he instituted a hands-off policy in regard to Lifson on his forum. Luckey confirmed this to one former Net54 member when he told him, “I want to know who the heck stole them because I have a real good feeling of who I think it is-and I had to sign a cease and desist order and I can’t talk about him.” He also told the former member, “One of the suspects is the White Knight. There is certainly an auctioneer or a functioneer, I don’t want to be specific, that portrays himself above reproach and I don’t think anybody is above reproach.” While Luckey was pointing the finger at Lifson and his alleged wrongdoing, he was carrying his own baggage with a past conviction on drug-related charges. In the past, Luckey, himself, was a target for another former Net54 member, Scott Elkins, who attacked Luckey on his own forum stating that Luckey was an “ex-felon” and “current drug dealer” without offering any supporting evidence.
One current Net54 member had this to say about the Luckey-Lifson relationship, “It’s Conditional love… For $500 a month anyone can buy LL’s board protection. The hypocrite and cheap version of a hobby godfather.” The board member asked that he be quoted anonymously for fear of being banned by Luckey.
After being sent the cease and desist order, Lifson’s auction house has since become one of Luckey’s regular advertisers on Net54, where other members also freely post images of stolen NYPL items in their possession. One collector named Ken Wirt regularly posts images of a rare cabinet photo of baseball pioneer Alexander Joy Cartwright, that is listed on the NYPLs “Missing List.” The card was purchased in Lifson’s 2007 auction of the remainder of Barry Halper’s collection and the exact same photo is credited in numerous baseball reference books to the NYPLs Spalding Collection. In his auction description, Lifson even described the photo as “the only traditional cabinet card photo of Cartwright that we have ever seen or heard of.” He added, “It is possible it is unique.” Another Net54 member, Corey Shanus, publicly displayed several rare letters stolen from the NYPL Knickerbocker Club Scrapbooks in a coffee-table baseball book published by the Smithsonian and, yet another member, Barry Sloate, has been linked to other stolen NYPL artifacts including additional Knickerbocker documents, score-sheets from the 1850s and a rare pamphlet from the 1852 Eagle Ball Club of New York City.
Three large scrapbooks of Harry Wright's correspondence vanished from the NYPL in the 1970s, but even surviving scrapbooks still in the collection have been compromised. This scrapbook (still at NYPL) shows evidence of vandalism and theft. Harry Wright's resignation letter to the Knickerbocker Club was stolen from this scrapbook. (Spalding Collection, NYPL)
As the controversy intensified in the summer of 2009, speculation about Lifson’s alleged role in the heist increased as well. In response, Lifson’s friend, New York Daily News writer, MichaelO’Keeffe, provided a forum for Lifson to address the rumor and innuendo. In 2004, Lifson was a primary source for O’Keeffe’s book, The Card,which featured an entire chapter about Lifson entitled “A White Knight,” portraying Lifson as one of the hobby’s good guys who “wages a daily battle for respectability, fighting against the evils that lurk within the hobby.” O’Keeffe also wrote, “There is too much graft, too much fraud, too much money being changed in too few hands to think otherwise. Lifson put what is going on in simple terms. ‘It’s called stealing,’ he said.”
In O’Keeffe’s article from July of 2009, Lifson addressed the issue of his own involvement in the NYPL thefts stating, “I want to set the record straight regarding untrue accusations promoted (via rumor and innuendo) by a very few individuals who wish to attempt to hurt my reputation by suggesting that I am responsible in any way for the theft of any of the missing items that have been stolen over the years from the New York Public Library. It’s simply not true.”
At the time he published Lifson’s statement O’Keeffe, an apparently biased Lifson supporter, defended the auctioneer and revealed to this writer his thoughts on the alleged thefts. O’Keeffe was dismissive of the claims made against Lifson and said, “On one level, I look at it, I guess, as, so what?” He further stated, “We all did stupid things back in the day,” and continued saying, “When you’re a kid you do stupid things, so I would hate for someone to dig up something I did when I was seventeen, even with the caveat I think you mentioned yesterday, which is a legitimate point, that Rob (Lifson) says that he was the boy genius of memorabilia even in 1979. Well, if he was also attempting to steal stuff or doing stupid things at the library (NYPL) , yeah, then that’s relevant, but a lot of water is under the bridge after that.” (Click here for:OKeeffe Audio 1) At the time O’Keeffe made this statement, Lifson was actively promoting sales of his bookonthe REA website.
But then in December of 2010, Lifson confessed to Sports Illustrated that he had stolen items from the New York Public Library and that he’d been caught. The article claimed that Lifson told SI.com: “Thirty two years ago, he (Lifson) says, he was a precocious minor with too much money and freedom; one day while doing research at the library, high on a mix of drugs and alcohol, he secreted two photographs under a piece of cardboard attached to the outside of his briefcase. He was caught before he could leave the room.”
Back in 1979, Time Magazine reporter David Aikmanwrote about a theftat the NYPL in which a “baseball card thief was caught when a guard saw him slipping the cards into a bubble gum box taped to his briefcase.” The culprit, according to Aikman’s original notes, was a nineteen year-old college student who also had substantial cash on his person when he was apprehended and claimed to have made that money selling baseball cards in just one day. At the time Lifson was a nineteen year-old college student at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and was considered one of the top dealers in the country for rare 19th century baseball items and cards. (Lifson’s company website states that, “By 1973, Lifson was one of the most active dealers in the country and already recognized as the most knowledgeable vintage card scholars in the field.”) By 1979, he was also the primary dealer supplying Barry Halper. Time reported that, when apprehended, the thief “had $5,500 in cash on him as well as a cache of smiling infielders.” In the article, Richard Couper, the president and CEO of the NYPL, described budget woes and security deficiencies at the Fifth Avenue Branch. Couper said, “The swipers here know what they are doing. We don’t even have enough money to inventory the materials.”
This writer has been investigating the NYPL thefts and Lifson’s alleged involvement in the crimes for the past fifteen years and can confirm that in another confession made by Lifson in 2002, the auctioneer contradicted the accounts he most recently gave to the New York Daily News and SI.com in 2009. In a phone conversation in 2002, (Click here for:Audio of Lifson Confession) Lifson told this writer:
“It’s really a total non-issue, you know, I mean literally nothing, you know. I can even tell you what it is, I’m not embarassed, well, everybody can make a mistake. I, as a kid, went in there (the NY Public Library) you know to see the collection (Spalding Collection) and do check listing and stuff and I was so overwhelmed with what I saw, there I was, stoned, ok, and I was a kid, and I took a CDV, and you know they have incredible security, ya know, they saw me , and they saw me palm a CDV and the second I left, they just stopped me and took it away and you know, I got in trouble.”
Lifson expanded on the incident adding,” It wasn’t premeditated it was just a stupid, stupid dumb thing done as a kid, you know 20 some odd years ago when I was on.. When I was high, ya know. I signed in with my real name and everything and I didn’t know what I was going to see, ya know, and there I just made a mistake and I’ll not spend any time apologizing for it ya know, decades later. It’s not a concern, anybody, anybody who wants to talk to me about that I’m happy to talk to ‘em. Anybody who, who would be so small-minded as to hold that against me, fine, that’s, they can do that, you know, ah. When it comes to ethics and , ya know ah, ah, doing the right thing, I, I hold myself to a much higher standard than anybody else in this field.” Lifson again stressed that the incident happened when he was a “young kid” and also added, “Hey, people make mistakes, that’s why they’re called people, ya know and when you talk about something done as a teenager, ya know, as a kid, you know, holy Jesus, if anybody would hold that against me, ya know, God…”
When asked about the allegations that he was supplying Barry Halper with stolen materials from the NYPL for years and that Halper had to post bail when he was apprehended, Lifson stated the claims were, “totally fabricated, absurd.”
While Lifson stressed in his confession that he was just “a kid” when apprehended at the NYPL, he was a 19 year-old Ivy Leaguer who had three years earlier, at the age of sixteen, purchased the collection of pioneer collector Dr. Lawrence Kurzrok from his widow, Estelle, for “over $20,000.” Recently Lifson called that acquisition “probably the largest vintage baseball card deal in the history of collecting at the time in terms of dollars.” Kurzroc lived at 9 East 96th St. in Manhattan and Lifson was known to visit him on several occasions. By his own account in recent interviews Lifson says he, “Did a lot of dealing with Dr. Kurzrok for many years.”
Living in Rydal, PA, Lifson travelled the eastern seaboard regularly in his role as collector and dealer and was known to run ads soliciting materials in a wide range of publications including Ebony and Popular Mechanics. In some of his advertisements Lifson made the claim that he had, “Unlimited capital available for my wants.” Lifson’s father, Kalman, and his two brothers, Nathan Lifson and Burton Lifson, were linked to a “Waffle Iron” fortune as principals of the Dominion Electrical Manufacturing Company. Author William Georgesays the company was known as the “world’s largest independent appliance manufacturer” by the time the Lifson family was bought out of the business in 1959. Lifson’s father, a Harvard educated attorney, also later became the president of CW Electronics Corporation, a world leader in electronic components. Hobby veteran, Ted Taylor, was like a mentor to Lifson when he was a teen and was witness to the Lifson’s wealth. Taylor told us, ” Rob was a very enthusiastic kid bordering on annoying and he always had loads of cash. It was amazing. His house was huge, too, in a very exclusive neighborhood. At that young age he just loved the rare 19th century material and would show it off at the early Philadelphia card shows.”
To date, the NYPL thefts have remained an enigma despite significant circumstantial evidence linking both Halper and Lifson to the sales of specific items missing from the Spalding Collection, including Harry Wright’s letters, documents from the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club and rare and valuable 19th century photographs including CDVs like the one Lifson confessed to stealing. One CDV currently on the NYPLs “Missing List” (along with one hundred other photos) is an 1870 image of A. G. Spalding’s Forest City team. There are only four examples known to exist, and they have sold at auction for upwards of $20,000. One of them is likely the NYPLs donated copy.
After Halper’s death in 2005, his widow consigned to Lifson’s auction items that constituted a small collection found in his home that REA described as personal items with sentimental value. Included in that group were two photographs stolen fron the Boston Public Library’s McGreevy Collection and several stolen photographs from the NYPL including portraits of Harry Wright, Alexander Cartwright and Andrew Peck. The image of Peck was a CDV that had the NYPL ownership stamp defaced to conceal the mark. Both photos from the BPL were recovered after they were reported by this writer and the Peck CDV was also recovered by the NYPL. REA, however, ended up selling the other portraits that appeared on the NYPL “Missing List.”
A big challenge for investigators is that Halper passed away in 2005 so is unavailable to be interviewed. However, an interview conducted by Hauls of Shame with a well-respected and prominent figure in the baseball community has finally shed some new light on the thefts that occurred decades ago. The source spoke with Hauls of Shame candidly about personal knowledge of the thefts but requested that we not quote or identify our source in any article we would publish. The source disclosed to us that in the early 1980s Barry Halper was questioned by a family member of the source as to what the origins were of some rare items Halper had shown him. Said the source, “Barry bragged to (my relative) that a lot of his collection came from that (the New York Public Library).” The source continued, “Barry said it was there for the taking and Barry was quite proud of it. (My relative) absolutely could not tolerate it.” We asked the source to confirm that the thefts were from the NYPL and the source stated, “Yes, the New York Public Library, he used to talk about how he did it.” When asked to delve further into details the source stated, “These were conversations he and (my relative) had, and obviously, (my relative) and I talked about it, but I can’t remember that Barry himself, but he also hired other people to do it and told them and how to go do this, so it was just something that once we knew, that was the end of the relationship (with Halper). It always amazes me because he was trading on he was always bigger than life, and people just let him get away with it and I just couldn’t believe it.”
We asked if the source had ever reported this information to anyone, and the source responded in the positive, without noting exactly who had been informed.” “It always amazed me that Barry continued to do what he did and never got-no one ever stopped him. Anything that you could tell me about Barry, would not surprise me, because he was totally, he had no morals at all on that stuff, it was just his for the taking he felt. And there wasn’t anything, and anyone who would come after him when, as I say (my relative) just walked away , now he did report it but Barry always, you know, he figured his money was more important and he could just buy anybody off.” This anonymous source also indicated that the only knowledge the source possessed of Halper’s part as the mastermind of the NYPL thefts was Halper himself, since the source was “without any proof other than Barry telling (my relative).”
(Left) Lot 206 in the 1999 Sotheby's Halper Auction was an 1875 letter written to Harry Wright by Morgan Bulkeley awarding the Boston BBC the championship pennant of 1875. The document is signed by Hall of Famers Wright and Bulkeley. (Right) Original research notes written by Dorothy Seymour Mills in the 1950's that indicate Lot 206 in the Halper Auction was once part of the NYPL Wright Correspondence scrapbook Volume "1, p.21." The research note, now housed at Cornell University, directly quotes portions of the letter that appeared in the Sotheby's sale in 1999. (Courtesy Cornell University Rare and Manuscript Division)
Added to the revelation about Halper implicating himself is the direct evidence of Halper’s ownership and sale of so many items stolen from the NYPLs Spalding Collection. In 1977 Halper showed Bill Madden of The Sporting News, what Madden referred to as Harry Wright’s “collection of written correspondence.” Keeping the letters in “plastic covered pages of yet another scrapbook,” Halper showed off specific letters that are believed to be missing from the NYPL Collection. In fact, in addition to the 1879 Ezra Sutton contract, three entire scrapbook volumes 1, 3 and 4 of the Wright Correspondence Collection went missing sometime before 1983. Each volume is estimated to have housed at least five hundred documents each as compared to the second volume which is still part of the collection, though appears to have been cherry-picked of the Sutton contract and other assorted documents. Halper’s 1999 sale included additional items originating from NYPLs Wright scrapbooks and also documented in the original notes of Dorothy Seymour Mills housed at Cornell. The most striking example is the letter sent to Wright in 1875 awarding the Boston team the championship pennant. Mills’ original notes document that this letter was pasted into “volume 1, page 21,” but it appeared as lot 206 in the Sotheby’s 1999 catalog for the Halper sale. Halper sold the letter, just one of the approximately 1,500 missing from the NYPL, for $14,950. The auction also featured many other items originating from the NYPL including documents and photographs related to Wright, Henry Chadwick and the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club.
The 1879 Ezra Sutton contract appearing on the Heritage website as a consignment from Seth Swirsky is further proof linking Halper to the thefts. When made aware of the Heritage offering Dorothy Seymour Mills responded with this comment: “I don’t know how much clearer the record can be that the Ezra Sutton contract is owned by the NYPL. Surely the notes I took on it, which you found in my own handwriting, prove that it was part of the NYPL collection back in the 1950s, when Seymour and I were working on the first volume of our Baseball series for Oxford University Press.”
Barry Halper sits at his desk in his Livingston, NJ, home c.1984. The stolen contract of Ezra Sutton appears hanging on the wall over his left shoulder. The contact was likely stolen from NYPL in the mid-70s.
Chris Ivy,the Director of Sports Auctions at Heritage, did not return a call for comment. Heritage is offering another item believed to be NYPL property and originating from the Harry Wright scrapbooks, volume 3. It is an 1884 telegram addressed to Wright when he was manager of the Philadelphia Nationals.
Seth Swirsky did not return calls for comment to explain why he consigned the contract to Heritage while he had knowledge of the supporting evidence showing it is NYPL property and was aware of the Hauls of Shame article in June of 2010. It is unclear why Swirsky has not returned the contract to the library, or why he has declined to pursue Sotheby’s or the Halper Estate for restitution. Swirsky idolized Halper while he was living and once stated on a collector forum, “Barry was always there to help collectors and the collecting community. No derision should come this great man’s way.” He added, “Thank God for Barry Halper.”
The legacy of Halper, the once revered founding father of baseball collecting, has also been tarnished by multiple instances of his selling the Baseball Hall of Fame and MLB counterfeit artifacts including what he claimed was “Shoeless Joe” Jackson’s 1919 Black Sox jersey. Recently, the once prominent “Barry Halper Gallery” at the Hall of Fame appears to have been removed and replaced by a “Learning Center.”
When contacted for the library’s reaction to the offering of the Sutton contract, Angela Montefinise, NYPLs Director of Public Relations declined comment because of “the on-going investigation.” Special agent Jim Margolin from the FBI’s New York press office also stated he could not comment on the contract specifically, but did confirm that the FBI investigation into the NYPL thefts was “active and on-going.”
New York Yankees front-office officials, Randy Levine and Lon Trost, did not respond to our inquiry for comment about Halper, the deceased limited partner, whose ownership interest was passed on to his widow, Sharon Halper. As stated on the NYPL website the Yankees and the library have had a good relationship as, “The Yankees have partnered with the Library to help kids all over this great city, renovating the children’s room at the Bronx Library Center, sponsoring the Library’s Summer Reading program, and underwriting the purchase of thousands of books for Bronx libraries.”
Dorothy Seymour Mills told us from her home in Florida, “It’s hard to believe that the amount of readily available proof of Halper’s thefts, including his own confession, has never resulted in the NYPL’s suing his estate or any auction houses for prompt return of the library’s property. The Sutton contract obviously belongs to baseball posterity, with the NYPL as its overseer and protector, not to individual collectors or auction houses that must have made huge sums out of it and are still trying to sell it to unsuspecting fans.”
Pam Guzzi, the great-great granddaughter of the original owner of the Sutton contract, Hall of Famer Harry Wright, was shocked when she got the news that the contract had not yet been returned to the library and was again being sold. Said Guzzi, “It appears painfully obvious that the contract between Ezra Sutton and my great-great grandfather, Harry Wright, was among the articles belonging to, and subsequently stolen from, the New York Public Library. It is incredulous to me, that this document now appears on the auction block and I hope and pray and plead with the “powers that be” that the document be removed and returned to the NYPL. Harry Wright was known as a gentleman, a man of honesty and with great integrity and sense of fairness and I know with every fiber of my being that he would detest what has become of the baseball collecting “hobby” world. And I use the term, “hobby” very loosely, as I see it more as a money making scheme than a hobby. I hope that the NYPL and the FBI will bring these items back home to the Library where they belong.”
Guzzi, the direct descendant of the man known as the “Father of Professional Baseball” also commented on the standards of the memorabilia industry, stating, “I hope that new, stronger regulations will be put in place within the collecting world to provide stricter regulations regarding authentication of historical documents and inspection of such items to ensure that none are determined as stolen property. It is sickening that items that have been so well documented as stolen are somehow still able to make their way to the auction block and no one is being held accountable.”
UPDATE (Monday Feb. 6): FBI Pays Visit to NYPL; Heritage Will Withdraw Rare Stolen 1879 Contract: Hauls of Shame has learned that the FBI visited the New York Public Library on Friday in relation to the Spalding Collection investigation. It was not clear whether that visit was directly related to Heritage Auction Galleries’posting of the stolen Sutton contract on their auction website. Also, late Friday, Chris Ivy, of Heritage, responded to Hauls of Shame’s inquiry, and on Sunday afternoon issued this statement: “The Ezra Sutton contract will not be included in the auction and we are going to work to have the piece donated to the NYPL on behalf of Seth Swirsky.” Ivy also stated the FBI had not contacted Heritage and also added that, “No decision has been made regarding the (Harry Wright) telegram.”
Hall of Famer signatures are a staple on First Day Covers from 1939, but are they real?
Before the year 2000, Jimmy Spence was a relatively unknown in the hobby until, almost overnight, he became the self-proclaimed ”guru” of baseball autograph authentication for PSA/DNA with the likes of hobby heavyweights Bill Mastro and Alan “Mr. Mint” Rosen singing his praises. Mastro raved about Spence’s “skill and work ethic” and the Mint-man went a step further extolling the virtues of Spence’s uncanny ability to help line his pockets with cash. Rosen said, ”When I get my stuff PSA/DNA’d not only do I know its real, it’s much easier to sell. Not to mention the extra thousands I make.”
Thanks to Mastro’s genius in devising the plan to institute a third-party authentication system to protect auction houses like his from liability and from ever holding the bag after selling a forged autographed item, Spence became, in some people’s minds, the Babe Ruth of autograph authentication. Even Sports Collectors Digest reported in its September, 2000, issue: “Spence is the Main Man at PSA/DNA.”
Spence was excited about being affiliated with a big company like PSA/DNA. He told SCD, ”They’re a solid company with a great reputation, and this is nice for me because I can do this with confidence, and stay away from litigation on a personal level, which I’ve been subject to in the past.”
In that SCD interview Spence also boasted of the resources PSA provided to protect collectors and to insure that what he authenticated was the real-deal. Spence said, “I have a certificate in forensic document examination. It was a course that I recently completed. I also have training in a video spectral comparator, a $20,000 machine with all sorts of magnification capabilities and different lights that are used, such as UV. It’s in my office and I use it regularly. It’s helped me determine the origin or the make of a certain item. A lot of times, the labels of a ball have been rubbed out, and I’ve been able to uncover that.”
Early in 2001 Spence made his rounds as PSA’s main man and travelled to Watchung, New Jersey, to authenticate items for Rob Lifson and Robert Edward Auctions. Lifson had recently merged his auction house with his old-friend Bill Mastro’s companyto form the auction-biz behemoth MastroNet. Spence, armed with the technology of his spectral comparator and the peace of mind afforded by PSA backing up his opinions, authenticated-away on hundreds of baseball-only items ranging from Babe Ruth signed baseballs to a baseball card signed by Ty Cobb.
This 1939 first day cover from the Hall of Fame's Innnaugural Induction Ceremonies is alleged to have been signed by all eleven inductees. The envelope sold for nearly $20,000 at Robert Edward Auctions in 2001 with an LOA from James Spence.
One of the items was a true gem that REA called an “extraordinary 1939 Hall of Fame first day cover (that was) signed in black ink by each of the eleven living members of the Hall of Fame present that day.” What made this item truly extraordinary, however, was that it was accompanied by a letter from Ty Cobb regarding the actual envelope Jimmy Spence was examining.
Robert Edward Auctions wrote this in their lot description: “Apparently, the former owner, Robert Ballard, obtained many of the signatures (or possibly all) by mail, and Cobb was one of the last signatures needed on the envelope. With that in mind, Ballard sent Cobb the envelope in 1939 asking him to please sign it and return it to him. Cobb, obviously, complied with the request and for Ballard the matter was forgotten. Imagine, however, Ballard’s surprise four years later upon receiving this perplexing letter from Cobb. The one-page handwritten letter, dated Aug. 28, 1943 on Ty Cobb, Menlo Park stationery, reads:
“Dear Sir, I have a letter of yours dated Sept-6th-1939 regarding first day covers autographed by 9 members of the Hall of Fame, as you stated only Connie Mack and myself had not signed. Such as this disturbs me very much, but yet I have in my mind that these have been returned to you. I would like very much to know from you if I did send them back. I have many letters that go astray, some in the mail, some arrive here in my absence and get misplaced. In going through some old mail I found your letter. If I did not return to you write me and tell me whose signatures were on the envelope or cover. Hope I have taken care of this matter. Sincerely, Ty Cobb.”
Ty Cobb wrote this letter to Robert Ballard in 1943 in regard to first day covers Ballard was collecting with HOFer signatures.
The Cobb letter, coupled with the 1939 signed cover, was a collectors dream. It’s not often that autographed items are accompanied by additional documentation that bolsters its provenance and authenticity, let alone a letter from Cobb himself to the original collector. When Jimmy Spence examined the cover along with Mike Gutierrez, of MastroNet, he determined that each signature on the document was a “10″ on a scale of “10.” REA theorized that Ballard had acquired all of his signatures through the mail and, based upon the 1943 letter, stated that Cobb and Mack were the last two signatures Ballard secured.
Hauls of Shame first examined this autographed postal cover last week while researching existing items alleged to have been signed in conjunction with the 1939 Hall of Fame Inductions. At first glance we just assumed the item was iron-clad, but as we took a closer look questions followed. We studied the Cobb letter carefully and it looked authentic, but several signatures on the cover were problematic, just like the suspected forgeries recently exposed on a 1939 Hall of Fame program that had sold for over $41,000 at Heritage Auction Galleries this past summer.
Like the Heritage program, the signature of Napoleon Lajoie appeared as “Larrry” with three r’s. The Honus Wagner signature looked extremely labored and almost drawn or traced. The Cobb looked unusual and the others appeared to be signed with hesitations and almost identical pen pressures. Only the Eddie Collins and Babe Ruth autographs appeared to be signed with any speed or fluidity.
We consulted with another expert we respect and he concurred that the Cobb letter was, in fact, authentic, but he emphatically stated that, in his opinion, the entire cover was a forgery. The Cobb letter flew in the face of all conventional logic, but our hunch was right, the signatures appeared to be forgeries, and nothing could change that.
The cover sold at REA in April of 2001 for $19,200 and, according to expert opinions, the winning bidder likely purchased a certifiably bogus item authenticated by James Spence of PSA/DNA and Mike Gutierrez of MastroNet.
So how could Spence and Co. have been duped so easily? Did Spence put the item through his $20,000 video spectral comparator? What exemplars did he utilize? Or did he just take one look at the accompanying Cobb letter and issue an opinion without giving a thorough examination? The authentic Cobb letter presented a conundrum and summoned a hypothetical question. “If this cover is a forgery, where is the genuine item Cobb alludes to in his 1943 letter, signed by everyone but him and Connie Mack?”
Having just paged through scores of old auction catalogues to find each and every offering of a signed first day cover or Baseball Centennial program at auction, I picked up a catalogue from a Mastro auction from April, 1999, and flipped through it quickly. Within seconds a page caught my eye, as it showed the same first day cover and the exact same Cobb letter being offered as lot 824 by Mastro as, the “Fantastic Hall of Fame Cover and Ty Cobb Letter.”
Looking closely at the cover something just didn’t add up, it just didn’t look exactly the same as the REA cover. I couldn’t put my finger on it at first, and I even thought for a moment that it might have been another cover altogether that Ballard had. So, I copied both covers and put them side by side. I could not believe my eyes.
The cover offered in 2001 at REA featured a dark "10" signature of Honus Wagner authenticated by Jimmy Spence (bottom). Two years earlier the same cover sold at Mastro Fine Sports with a Wagner signature that was so faint it was barely visible in the auction catalog.
The Honus Wagner signature that appeared on the 2001 REA cover had vanished right before my eyes. Poof. Gone.
Noted in the 1999 auction lot description was another absolute stunner in regard to the Cooperstown cover: “Offered with LOAs by James Spence and Mike Gutierrez.” So, when Spence and Gutierrez authenticated the cover for REA it was their second look at the same, rare item.
And Honus’ John Hancock was actually present back in 1999 as the auction description also noted: “The Wagner signature along the left border is somewhat faded but fully intact and legible.” However, the image in the Mastro catalog showed that the signature was so faint that it was barely visible and looked more like it had been removed or erased. None of the other alleged signatures showed any visible signs of fading. In fact, Spence noted they were “9’s/10.”
Before the alleged Honus Wagner signature reappeared in 2001, the cover sold for $16,200 at Mastro’s auction. When Spence wrote his LOA for REA two years later, without mentioning anything about the Wagner signature other than it was now graded a “10″ out of “10,” the cover appreciated in value by about $4,000.
It appears that in this instance Spence and PSA did the following:
1. Authenticated a forged/re-traced Honus Wagner signature as a “10″ that two years earlier they had authenticated as a faded and barely visible autograph.
2. Failed to utilize the technology available to them by using the machinery that Spence alleged could uncover forgeries by seeing what was under examined signatures.
3. Failed to indicate why the Wagner signature was light and faded in 1999 when the other signatures were so dark and considered mint, and then failed to connect the dots in 2001, when the Wagner transformed into a mint ”10″.
4. Failed to observe that the Wagner signature was not authentic and then failed to take a closer look at the additional ten signatures to determine if they were also forgeries (including the fact that the Larry Lajoie signature featured three r’s in “Larry.”)
5. Failed to refer back to genuine exemplars of signed 1939 first day covers to determine if the REA auction lot was authentic.
Spence allegedly first examined the Ballard cover before he had become the full-time PSA guru. Sometime, in early 1999, Spence showed up at the offices of Mastro Fine Sports to authenticate items for Bill Mastro’s upcoming auction extravaganza featuring 1,176 lots of baseball treasures, including the 1939 cover and Cobb letter. It is likely that Spence even took a photograph of the 1939 cover for his exemplar files. Considering that authentic first day covers signed by all of the Hall of Fame inductees are extremely rare and valuable, why wouldn’t he have?
Later that same year, in September of 1999, another alleged example of a signed 1939 cover sold at Sotheby’s as part of the Barry Halper Collection for $48,300. (Mike Gutierrez was also hired by Rob Lifson and Sotheby’s to authenticate items, including that cover, for the Halper sale.) Considering the value and rarity of the item, how could both Spence and Gutierrez miss the appearing/disappearing Wagner signature when they examined the cover for the second time on behalf of REA in 2001? (Gutierrez is currently listed as an authenticator for JSA on the company website.) What’s more, it was accompanied again by the spectacular Cobb letter that boosted its provenance, so wouldn’t they have immediately remembered authenticating it just two years earlier?
With the visual documetation that the Wagner signature “magically appeared” in the 2001 REA auction, important questions are raised in regard to who originallyconsigned and purchased the cover at Mastro in 1999 and who consigned it to REA in 2001? In addition, did any of these parties have a relationship with either Spence or Gutierrez at that time?
These two first day covers addressed to Robert Ballard appeared in the same auction as the dubious first day cover allegedly signed by the original eleven living inductees to Cooperstown.
When I browsed the 1999 Mastro catalog and found the original first day cover offering I noticed something else that was suspicious. Just a few lots before the first day cover Mastro offered were two additional covers that featured single signatures of Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson and they were both addressed to the same collector, Robert Ballard of Syracuse, New York.
Had Spence and Gutierrez taken note of this at the time?
This Babe Ruth single-signed first day cover was addressed to Robert Ballard and was sold at a MastroWest Auction in June of 1999.
Looking through other Mastro catalogs I found two more first day covers also addressed to Ballard and signed by Ruth and Johnson. Again, both bore single signatures. Referring back to Ty Cobb’s 1943 letter to Ballard I wanted to check exactly what Cobb had allegedly said in regard to Ballard’s multi-signed cover.
Cobb wrote:
“Dear Sir, I have a letter of yours dated Sept-6th-1939 regarding first day covers autographed by 9 members of the Hall of Fame, as you stated only Connie Mack and myself had not signed. Such as this disturbs me very much, but yet I have in my mind that these have been returned to you.
It appears that Cobb was specifically referring to Ballard’s original letter referencing ”covers” in the plural. It doesn’t appear that Ballard sent Cobb just a single cover signed by everyone except Cobb and Connie Mack. It appears that he sent multiple covers to the players and, if the additional covers found addressed to Ballard and signed by Ruth and Johnson are any indication, it is possible that Ballard was only requesting single signatures on separate covers from each Hall of Famer. The fact that he had two authentic examples from Ruth and Johnson suggests that Ballard may have only sent two (or more) covers to Cobb for his single signature.
Further supporting this theory is the opinion of experts that the cover REA sold for nearly $20,000 could be a forgery. Clearly it is much more likely that the Honus Wagner signature was not just an abnormally faded and “magical” autograph. More likely it was a forgery attempt gone bad and erased and removed by the forger at some point before it was sold by Mastro in 1999.
This negative image of the Wagner signature as it appeared on the cover in 1999 illustrates evidence of the faint alleged signature which is likely a forgery attempt gone bad that was later removed by the forger. The cover from the 2001 REA auction with the enhanced/forged Wagner signature appears on the left.
While not definitive, this scenario is, no doubt, something that the authenticators should have been considering closely as they passed judgment on the 1939 HOF cover. Referring to himself as the “man behind the letter” in PSA/DNA advertisements at the time, Spence boasted of “20 years of hobby experience” and that his clients would have “the peace of mind that your autographed memorabilia will be opined genuine by one of the leading sports signature experts.”
This November, 2002, ad from SCD advertises Spence and his PSA/DNA counterpart Steve Grad as "Pillars of Integrity" with "More than 40 years combined expertise in the industry."
However, the case of the mysterious appearing and disappearing Honus Wagner signature suggests otherwise. Is James Spence actually an expert? What are his credentials?
In a deposition that was taken on March 1, 2000, in Harrisburg, PA, by attorney, Michael J. Wilson, Spence spoke of his credentials at that time and his claims that he had studied with world-renowned handwriting expert Charles Hamilton:
Spence: Most recently, I have a Certificate in forensic document examination.
Attorney: From where did you obtain that certificate?
Spence: It’s from a fellow by the name of Andrew Bradley of Denver, Colorado.
Attorney: You obtained it sometime or after February 23, 2000?
Spence: Correct.
Attorney: Is the course a correspondence course?
Spence: Yes, it is.
Attorney: Who or what is certifying you?
Spence: I believe he gives a certificate from his own establishment. I don’t know if it’s in any way connected with any government or state agency.
Attorney: All this came up within the context of an earlier question to you concerning the topic of informal training in handwriting analysis.
Spence: That is correct.
Attorney: So in the mid ‘94′ you underwent this first encounter with Mr. Hamilton. Can you tell me how many times you physically met with the man between that first meeting somewhere in ‘94′ until the time of his death somewhere in ‘98′?
Spence:Perhaps five to seven times.
Attorney: Were you alone on each of those instances?
Spence: Each time I went with _______.
Attorney: Why were you returning to Mr. Hamilton with Mr. _____ at those times?
Spence: Because Mr. _____ had a very large collection.
The truth of the matter is, however, that Spence only accompanied the collector one time to see Charles Hamiltonand he never worked with him or received any formal training or advice. This writer was working closely with Hamilton on a weekly basis in 1994 and knows of only one visit by Spence to see Hamilton. The collector Spence mentioned in his deposition declined comment. It is believed that the collector was just dropping off materials for authentication at the time of the one visit with Spence.
In addition to allegedly misrepresenting his credentials, the formal training in handwriting analysis Spence completed appears problematic as well. A source who is familiar with PSA operations revealed more information about Spence’s training and told us, ”He does not have a certificate in forensic document authentication. That is not correct. The certificate just says that he completed a correspondence course in document examination, which was offered by a man named Andrew Bradley, the same correspondence course that PSA authenticators were required to take.”
Before James Spence became an authenticator he worked as a fitness instructor at Club Med and for Cunard Cruise Lines, as a salesman for American Van Equipment and as a ladder salesman for the Lynn Ladder Company until he was fired from the Orwigsberg, PA, firm in 1991. In all of this time Spence had no formal training that could qualify him as a handwriting expert. In PSA/DNA advertisements published as early as 2002, Spence and his then PSA counterpart, Steve Grad, boasted of having “40 years combined expertise in the industry.”
Between 1989 and 1991 Spence worked on the side as a baseball dealer setting up tables at shows and after he was fired from the Lynn Ladder Company he began working in the baseball memorabilia industry as “Show-Off Collectibles,” specializing in “custom matting, sports and sports autographs.” Documents show that by 1994 Spence was selling autographs for “Show-Off” that were “Guaranteed Authentic for Life.” By 1997 he was operating as ”James Spence III Vintage Autographs” and it wasn’t until 2000 that he completed the mail order course offered by Andrew Bradley that issued him the certificate mentioned in his deposition.
The embattled Spence has made a host of outrageous errors over the past few years and they have been documented thoroughly in a Barron’s article, “Kinda Sorta Genuine,” and on websites like Autograph Alert and Net54, a collectors internet forum. Spence’s greatest misses are abundant. JSA authenticated a letter allegedly written by Hall of Famer Ed Delahanty that sold for over $30,000, however, the letter was secreterial and written by his manager, BillyShettsline, who actually misspelled the stars last name “D-e-l-e-h-a-n-t-y” on the document. Spence also authenticated an 1891 telegram as being signed by HOFer Harry Wright, but it was the copy of the telegram the recipient recieved, thus making it impossible to have been signed by Wright. He authenticated a rare signature of boxing great Jack Johnson on a 1948 trading card despite the fact that Johnson died in 1946. In 2006, Autograph Alert reported that Spence had authenticated a document as having been signed by WWII Admiral Chester Nimitz, when it was actually signed by Admiral Karl Donitz and signed ten years after Nimitz had actually died. He’s also authenticated facsimile signatures on photos of boxer Mike Tyson as genuine and he was exposed on several occasions for deeming items as forgeries after he had previously authenticated them as genuine.
Spence’s most recent atrocity involves an entire 1927 ball alleged to be signed by Babe Ruth and his fellow Yankees. Long-time vintage Yankee collector David Atkatz recently discovered that the 1927 team-signed ball in his collection was, in fact, a forgery. The ball, ostensibly signed by Ruth, Gehrig, and the rest of Murderer’s Row, had been purchased at auction in 2000, and it, too, had been accompanied by a Spence “Letter of Authenticity.” In a posting on the Net54 website some collectors reacted to news of the forgery as if there had been a death in their hobby circle. Said one collector, “Sorry for your loss. This is frightening… to say the least,” while another posted “THIS IS SICKENING… from a treasure to a trash can.” Atkatz told us that ” it was an excellent forgery, and many–including myself–were fooled. I have learned, though, that hobby professionals knew of this forger’s work years before it was vetted by Spence.”
Spence authenticated this Lou Gehrig forgery in 1999 for Mastro. It was the work of the same forger who had created David Atkatz' ball which was determined a forgery just recently. At the time Spence authenticated this Gehrig ball, it was common knowledge amongst auctioneers, dealers and experts that the ball was a forgery. It sold for close to $15,000 with a Spence LOA.
Sources indicate that Spence was also aware of this forger’s work as early as 1995, however, he still authenticated the 1927 Yankee ball in 2000. There were even advertisements placed in Sports Collectors Digest in 1997 by one of Spence’s competitors, Richard Galasso, featuring the forgers work and warning collectors to be wary.
As reported byHaulsofshame.com last year, these blunders have caught the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and agents are well aware of the questionable authentications of Spence and PSA for millions of dollars worth of alleged fakes ranging from gem-mint Babe Ruth signed baseballs to the recently exposed 1939 Hall of Fame Induction forgeries uncovered by Hauls of Shame and several hobby experts. Spence’s shoddy work and expensive errors are being exposed at an alarming rate and continue to dog the so-called expert who still has the blessing of eBay and every major auction house in the business. The Honus Wagner signature debacle perfectly illustrates the problems with third-party authentication and the slippery slope that authenticators like Spence rest upon. At what point are their errors considered “honest mistakes” and at what point are they scrutinized for possible “criminal intent”?
Meanwhile, as instances of authenticator malpractice are being exposed on such a regular basis, some collectors who viewed the third-party authentication system as the standard of the industry are having second thoughts. Some thought they were getting a guarantee they were buying a genuine item even though JSA and PSA guarantee nothing. Now they are wondering how many other LOA’s certified by JSA and PSA aren’t worth the paper they are printed on.
One collector put it this way for us, saying, “Spence can take something that’s worthless and then based only on his say so and his fancy signature on a letter, it becomes worth thousands of dollars. That’s a dangerous power for someone who has made so many mistakes.”
Another collector remarked that Spence and other authenticators were Houdini-like in their creation of LOAs and thought a few lines from actor Michael Caine in the film, ThePrestige, summed up the authentication controversies best: ”"The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it into something extraordinary. But you wouldn’t clap yet, because making something disappear isn’t enough. You have to bring it back. Now you’re looking for the secret. But you won’t find it because, of course, you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to work it out. You want to be fooled.”
This 1939 first day cover appeared in the same 1999 auction that featured the vanished Wagner signature. An alleged Wagner signature appears on this example which also had an LOA from James Spence. It sold for close to $10,000 but it only featured eight of the eleven original living inductees to Cooperstown. Upon closer examination of the signatures, however, experts are of the opinion that it may be a forgery as well.
(Stay Tuned for our next report regarding the 1939 HOF Induction forgeries, which will show how many existing signed first day covers are suspected fakes, including the example sold by Barry Halper at Sotheby’s for over $48,000 in 1999.)
This picture of the HOFers at the 1939 Induction features forgeries of Nap Lajoie and Cy Young.
As “Operation Bambino” continues into 2012, readers have been alerting us about scores of other suspect autographed items certified as authentic by the “third-party” authenticators, PSA/DNA and JSA (James Spence Authentication).The revelations in the first three installments of Operation Bambino have stirred up quite a bit of controversy in the hobby as the accuracy of authentications of the high-end Babe Ruth single-signed balls are being seriously challenged by experienced collectors and dealers.
While Babe Ruth’s signature is considered the crown-jewel of the autograph industry, signed items from the 1939 Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies in Cooperstown are also held in high regard by collectors and command top-dollar . However, based upon some recent sales of Induction autographs at auction, it may be necessary to follow up the Ruth investigation with a seperate ”Operation Induction” probe.
The results of our cursory review of several items was, to say the least, shocking.
This signed 1939 Hall of Fame Induction Program was sold at Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas, Texas, last summer for over $41,000. Its alleged to be signed by all-time greats, Ruth, Ty Cobb, Cy Young, Walter Johnson, George Sisler, Nap Lajoie, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Honus Wagner and others attending the ceremonies. But it wasn’t. The program features the work of a skilled forger who, unfortunately, had a hard time spelling Hall of Famer Nap Lajoie’s nickname “Larry” correctly. He penned the Frenchman’s name with three “r’s”. Here’s his work:
This autographed 1939 Induction Program sold for over $40,000 at Heritage last year. Experts say its the work of a skilled forger, as there are tell tale signs of forgery.
We asked some experts and dealers for their off the record opinions on the authenticity of the signatures on this program and all of them concurred with our conclusion. While some may still argue these signatures are genuine, as a result of the high quality of their execution, others were not fooled and noticed the tell-tale signs of forgery.
One of the first signatures we noticed as problematic was Cy Young’s (Top). Illustrated below the alleged Young signature on the Heritage item is an authentic Young signature signed on Induction Day in 1939 for a Cooperstown native. The contrast between the signatures is drastic and the forgery lacks any true resemblance to Young’s own signature signed in Cooperstown in 1939.
The next to show signs of forgery was the Larry Lajoie signature (top) which, while well executed, includes three “r’s” in “Larry.” The exemplar that appears below that signature is an authentic autograph of Lajoie also signed for a Cooperstown resident in 1939. On it’s own, with only two “r’s”, this forged signature would fool most everyone.
The Ty Cobb signature at the top of the Heritage Induction Day Program shows considerable contrast with other authentic Cobb signatures actually signed by the “Georgia Peach” in Cooperstown in 1939. The example at the bottom is considered authentic and appears on a 1939 Induction First Day Cover.
The Honus Wagner signature appearing on Heritage’s auction lot is, perhaps the best forgery of the bunch, closely mimicking the “Flying Dutchman’s” elaborate signature with fancy flourishes. In our opinion, close, but no cigar, when compared to another authentic example signed for a Cooperstown resident in person during the 1939 festivities in Cooperstown. The forgery shows signs of hesitation and an appearance of being drawn and lacks the natural flow of Wagner’s handwriting.
The alleged Babe Ruth signature appearing on the 1939 program is also well executed. The authentic Ruth signature that appears on the bottom was signed by Ruth on a First Day Cover signed in June, 1939.
Here are some additional 1939 HOF Induction items certified as authentic by James Spence and PSA/DNA. It is our opinion that they are all forgeries:
Another 1939 Induction program with alleged signatures of inductees and others. This item appeared in Heritage’s November, 2011 auction but failed to sell. Heritage offered the item with a “Full PSA/DNA LOA” and “an Auction LOA from James Spence Authentication.” The item is, however, riddled with unimpressive forgeries. We took note of one forgery in particular of Cy Young. It’s our “considered opinion” this forgery is a dead-ringer for the Young forgery executed on the $41,000 program. One would expect to see something like this item in a Coaches Corner Auction.
This 1939 Induction First Day Cover that also sold at Heritage features an authentic signature of US Postmaster General, James Farley, and a forged autograph of Honus Wagner accompanied with LOAs from JSA and PSA/DNA.
This 1939 Induction First Day Cover sold at Heritage and features a forged Larry Lajoie signature with an LOA from Steve Grad andZach Rullo of PSA/DNA.
This 1939 Induction First Day Cover features a forged Cy Young signature. It sold for over $5,000at Heritage with LOAs from JSA and PSA/DNA.
For comparison, here is an Induction Day forgery sold byCoaches Corner with a Christopher Morales LOA. In our opinion, this forgery, certified by Morales, features better signature examples of Cobb, Alexander and Walter Johnson when compared to the 1939 program that sold at Heritage for over $41,000. In contrast, the Coaches Corner forgery sold for about $900 bucks.
Not sold on our contention that these are all forgeries authenticated by PSA and JSA? Stay tuned for our next installment of “Operation Induction” and we guarantee you’ll never look at a PSA or JSA LOA the same way ever again.
(UPDATE: HERITAGE OFFERING BOGUS 1939 INDUCTION PROGRAM INCLUDED IN THIS ARTICLE: Despite this article’s claim that an alleged 1939 HOF induction program is a forgery that was first offered (and did not sell) in Heritage Auction’s 2011 Summer Auction, Heritage is again offering the same item in their upconing April auction as indicated on their current auction preview page. The program is being offered as: 1939 Hall of Fame Induction Program pages Signed by Most Honorees. The program, as the lot description states, comes with, “Full LOA from PSA/DNA. Auction LOA from James Spence Authentication.” The program features forgeries so poorly executed one would expect to find it accompanied by an LOA from FDE’s like Christopher Morales or Donald Frangiapani. As evidenced in this current article, even a forgery included in a Coaches Corner auction appears to have better execution than this Heritage offering.)
(UPDATE 2: Heritage Auction Galleries did not respond to interview requests by Hauls of Shame in regard to the forgeries they are currently offering on their auction website and the $41,000 program they sold this past summer.)
This forged signature of Hall of fame Umpire Bill Klem appears on the bogus 1939 Induction program pages being offered by Heritage Auctions.
This Ty Cobb forgery is included on Heritage's 1939 Induction autograph lot.
These forgeries of Larry Lajoie and Cy Young also appear on Heritage's 1939 induction lot that was authenticated by PSA and JSA.
These forgeries of Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson, Connie Mack and Lefty Grove were authenticated by JSA and PSA for the upcoming April Heritage Auction.
