Auction Name: 2025 December 19 - 21 Winter Sports Catalog Auction

Lot Number: 82210

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/50081*82210

1952-57 Roy Campanella Single Signed Baseball, PSA/DNA NM+ 7.5. The humble backstop may not have garnered the attention that followed Jackie, Pee Wee and the Duke during that most glorious era of New York City baseball, but there was arguably no more essential component in the sustained success of those last Brooklyn Dodgers teams than Roy Campanella. "He was always doing something to help you win a game, whether it was digging out a low pitch, throwing out a baserunner, or hitting a home run," explained Dodgers manager, Walt Alston, reporting the facts that earned Campy three National League MVP Awards during the first half of the 1950's.

The tragic 1957 automobile accident that brought a sudden end to his Major League service failed to block Campanella's path to Cooperstown, but succeeded in assuring that the supply single signed baseballs such as the one presented here would always trail demand by a wide margin. Fewer than ten "playing days" singles have been traded on the hobby's major auction block in the past decade and a half, and this is most assuredly the finest of that rare breed, an absolute beauty earning every bit of its lofty PSA/DNA rating.

Campy signs with 8/10 strength beneath the "Spalding" logo of the subject ONL (Giles) baseball, the stamping format of which allows us to narrow the vintage to the final years of the Dodgers' service to Brooklyn and Campanella's Hall of Fame career. The horsehide is lightly and evenly toned but otherwise free of any distractions, rating 7/10 to arrive at the composite grade as listed. It's a dazzling relic sure to satisfy even the most condition-sensitive collector. Full grading LOA from PSA/DNA, NM+ 7.5. Full LOA from Beckett Authentication Services.

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