Late 1950's Mel Ott Single Signed Baseball, PSA/DNA NM 7....

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Sold on Feb 21, 2015 for:

$53,775.00 Bid Source: Live: Phone bidder

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A stellar single from the final years of Ott's life

Late 1950's Mel Ott Single Signed Baseball, PSA/DNA NM 7.

UPDATE: This baseball was evaluated by James Spence Authentication after our catalog went to print. They will be issuing a full letter of authenticity as well.

Of all the milestones of immortality that dot the baseball landscape, none quickens our pulse quite the way the 500 home run mark does. Pitching may win ballgames, but the long ball wins hearts, and there isn't a Little Leaguer alive who hasn't dreamed of knocking one out of a big league park in the clutch. Fortunately for collectors, most of the Club is quite readily available on singles. Mantle, Mathews, Killebrew and Williams are gone, but they left a good supply behind. Ruth is likewise quite easy to locate, though pricier. Jimmie Foxx is very tough, yes, but the prize for toughest of them all goes to the man who made the right field bleachers of the Polo Grounds his personal landing pad for twenty-two seasons, the immortal Mel Ott.

His 7/10 side panel signature is gloriously unpersonalized, adding further rarity and desirability to a piece fully infused by both. The medium is an ONL (Giles) sphere reassigned for Western League action, as side panel presidential stamping from O'Neal M. Hobbs indicates. A quick check of the record books shows that Hobbs made his Western League presidential debut for the 1956 season, just two years before Ott's fatal automobile accident in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi.

The baseball itself is rated 6/10 by the experts at PSA/DNA, who designate a half-point "bump" to the grade for superior aesthetics, resulting in the final assessment as reported. We'd expect that many will agree that the appearance of this rare Ott solo effort exceeds even that lofty grade. Full Grading LOA from PSA/DNA, NM 7. Full LOA from James Spence Authentication.

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