1962 Cardinals Team-Signed Baseball (17) Bob Gibson, etc. – COA JSA

Description

The 1962 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team’s 81st season in St. Louis, Missouri and its 71st season in the National League. The Cardinals went 84–78 during the season and finished 6th in the NL, 17½ games behind the San Francisco Giants. Also in 1962, the Cardinals became the first NL club to wear names on the backs of their uniforms that season.

Presented is a baseball autographed by the 1962 St. Louis Cardinals team. There are 17 signatures on this ONL (Giles) baseball in blue and black ink (most “8” with some better and some less in quality). Signers include HOFer Bob Gibson and key members including Bobby Shantz, J. Keane, Julián Javier, Ray Washburn, Dal Maxvil, Ray Sadecki, Curt Simmons, Doug Clemens, Fred Whitfield, L. Jackson, B. Smith, Vern Benson, Don Ferrarese, Gene Oliver, and others. The baseball itself shows toning with age.  Lastly, to note, the inscription of 1964 Cardinals was penned in an unknown hand.

Authentication: JSA Full Letter

This ball is from one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of autographed baseballs in the world. Altogether they were easily displayable in custom shelf form and alphabetically displayed nonetheless. The choice of medium was visually easy for the encyclopedic collector who put these together. It took several decades to amass these rare autographs of the most prominent entertainers, historical figures, and sports players.  It proved quite difficult to acquire autographs of non-ballplayers on such an odd object (a baseball) but diligence proved otherwise and that it’s possible. So, now with the collection complete and his shelves empty, there’s only one thing left to do….bid on this item and start the challenge to see how far you can take it.