On July 9th, 2011, Derek Jeter stroked his 3,000th hit as a major leaguer and Yankee legend. For that game, officials identified the baseballs with a stamp before they were put in play. This Rawlings Official Major League Allan H. Selig Baseball has been stamped “J 44” above and below the MLB insignia. The ball was not used during the game but was made game ready. Only 48 balls were ever marked because the MLB was trying to mark a historical moment in time. Per an article on MLB.com, “it was written that behind the scenes of a high-profile Major League Baseball milestone chase, four dozen Rawlings baseballs have been rubbed up with mud by the Yankee’s clubhouse crew and handed over to the MLB Authentication staff.” One of those baseballs will be historic. They are marked sequentially with the numbers 1 through 48, in black under the MLB logo, and each also has a covert marking needed for final proof. This ball is accompanied by both an MLB Authenticated hologram (FJ645171) for the July 9, 2011 game ready status and a hologram from Steiner Sports (182909).

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