Babe Ruth captivated the eyes of New York baseball fans for 14 memorable years, which included four World Series titles. Soon after Ruth left the Yankees in 1934 it was time for the "The Yankee Clipper", Joe DiMaggio to take the spotlight. Fast forward to the present day and these names still hold a certain weight if you're a fan of the Yankees, baseball in general, or if you happen to find their autographs on a seventy-three year old World Series program. For a woman in New Jersey that scenario is what took place two months ago. She was going through items that had been left by her grandfather, who had passed away just a few weeks prior. Most of the items had found a home in her garbage can, but just before she got rid of what appeared to be an old magazine, a couple of autographed names caught her eye. It turned out to be a 1939 World Series program that was missing its cover, but featured two names that would have any collector grinning from ear to ear. Which is what the owner of Just Collect, Leighton Sheldon, did when the New Jersey woman brought the rare memento of Yankee history to his nearby office. The Ruth and DiMaggio signatures were authenticated by PSA/DNA. There are also signatures of players Waite Hoyt, Bennie Fields, and James Farley, as well as dancing legend Bill "Bojangles Robinson and film writer William Collier Sr. There are three remaining names that cannot be identified. So just how rare is this piece of Yankee history? "It was from 1939 which is odd because Ruth had been estranged from the Yankees by then,” said Sheldon. Ruth was actually in attendance of at least one game during the 39' series against the Reds. There is a picture of him sitting along side Lou Gehrig in the dugout during the World Series, it is unknown if the program was signed that day, but it is certainly possible that the
Babe would've signed something for a young fellow. The fact that Ruth was in attendance was surprising because he rarely, if ever showed up to Yankee games after leaving the team in 1935 for a short stint with the Boston Braves before retiring from active competition. However would Ruth have signed it if DiMaggio's name was already on it? “DiMaggio was also the young budding star so it's very interesting Ruth signed this,” Sheldon said. It is possible that the woman's grandfather, who would have been a young boy at the time, could have gotten Ruth's signature first and then made his way to DiMaggio. It is also likely that both players just wanted to give the little boy a future keepsake. The woman said that it is likely that her grandfather was in attendance for one game of the series, but she wasn't sure exactly how the signatures got onto the program. Whatever the case might be bidders can try to win the piece of baseball history on Ebay. The auction ends this Sunday at midnight, so make sure to get your bids in before then. Just Collect isn't just here to sell, we're always buying and accepting consignments. Whether you are interested in selling a single card or entire collection, we want to help!
