(LOT 277)
1929 Babe Ruth Single Signed Baseball w/ Video of Babe Ruth Signing the Baseball PSA/DNA LOA
My name is Steve Kittredge and I have had the pleasure of owning the offered autographed Babe Ruth baseball since March of 1993. At the time I purchased it I owned a retail store in Boca Raton, FL. We specialized in baseball cards, new and old. I replied to a classified ad for an autographed Babe Ruth baseball because I thought it would be the perfect collectible to display in our store. I made an appointment to see the ball with a 71-year old gentleman named James B. Tonking, III, who lived in Ft. Lauderdale.

The signature I thought was good but I became increasingly more excited as I heard the story about the ball. It seems that James' father worked for Eastman Kodak and part of his job description was to test out prototype cameras. It came to pass that James' Dad took one of these prototype video cameras to a Yankee game in 1929. During practice, The Babe fouled and young James caught the ball and his Dad taped the Babe autographing the ball. Better still, James the 2nd also continued to record The Babe hitting two home runs during the game. Decades later, James' daughter converted the footage to a VHS tape and set it to an instrumental version of "The Way We Were."

James' eyes filled up as he was showing me the recording. It was his fondest memory. However, he was enthusiastic about selling the ball to me to display in our store for collectors and new generations of baseball fans to admire. We at Memory Lane are proud to offer this autographed baseball of Babe Ruth as well as a copy of the VHS tape on to DVD, which shows little James walking up to Babe Ruth around the dugout area from the stands, passing the ball to Babe, watching him sign it and returning it to James and then James walking back to his seat with ball in hand and showcasing a huge smile. The ball itself is shellacked and displays a strong signature of Babe on the side panel. Comes with a full LOA from PSA/DNA.

MIN BID $3,500
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