Winter Auction 2016 Closing January 30th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/31/2016
For the first time in the modern era baseball was selected to be an exhibition sport for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Eight nations fielded teams for an eight-day, 16-game tournament in Dodger Stadium. President Ronald Reagan, himself a big baseball fan and former Chicago Cubs play-by-play man, attended the exhibition series. Team USA has gone down as possibly the finest amateur team ever assembled and all but three members of the squad later played in the majors. The '84 Summer Games were the first time many fans got to see future superstars Barry Larkin, Mark McGwire and Will Clark show their talents. The tournament drew 385,285 fans, ensuring the game being made an official sport for the 1988 Olympics. This signed ball comes from Barry Larkin, at the time a 20 year-old University of Michigan student and member of the team. The Rawlings Official 1984 Olympic Games ball has been signed in black ink by Barry Larkin and President Ronald Reagan's bold signature on the sweet spot right below the hand written inscription "United States 1984 Olympic Baseball Team". The remaining signatures were most likely signed by Larkin himself as a momento for himself to keep. The ball shows some age toning but the signatures are bold. Letter of Authenticity from Barry Larkin and a full LOA from JSA. All Barry Larkin LOAs contain a facsimile signature from Larkin and are accompanied by a Goldin Auctions LOA confirming the product came directly from Barry Larkin.