Offered here is a truly premier collectible. This ball not only features the signatures of two of the original 1936 Hall of Fame inductees – Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, but was signed both greats during the primes of their careers. This ball, based on the inscriptions by both players, was dated to September 18th, 1919, which just so happens to coincide with the Detroit Tigers visiting the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. While were not sure if this Official American League Ban Johnson stamped baseball was actually used in the September 18th, 1919 game, what we are sure of is that Ruth signed his distinctive signature on the sweet spot in black pen, inscribing “Sept 18th 1919”, while Cobb signed his name on the adjacent north panel in black pen, inscribing “Sept 18, 19”. During the September 19th game at Fenway, Cobb went 2-for-5 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI in Detroit’s 8-2 victory. Ruth, playing left field and batting cleanup that day, collected a hit in 3 at-bats, while drawing 2 walks in the loss.

In 1919, Babe Ruth was finishing up his last season with the Red Sox before his historic sale to the New York Yankees that ushered in a new era of baseball. Ruth would retire in 1934 with a then home run record of 714 home runs, which stood for 40 years until broken by Hank Aaron. Cobb, in 1919, continued to build on his Hall of Fame career by winning the American League batting title for the 12th and final time with a .384 batting average, while also leading the AL in hits with 191. Cobb would play until 1928, retiring with what is still the all-time highest career batting average of .366. This ball comes with a LOA from JSA for the signatures.

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