Description
Presented is an OAL 1996 Championship Series (Budig) baseball autographed by Gene Benson. He signed it on the sweet spot in a blue ballpoint pen (“10”).
Gene Benson nickname “Highpockets” was an American center fielder in baseball’s Negro leagues. He played for the Philadelphia Stars in 1937, moved to the Homestead Grays in 1938, and returned to the Stars from 1939 to 1948. He stood 5-foot-8 and weighed 185 pounds at the peak of his career. In 2003, baseball historian Bill James identified Benson as the top Negro league player of the 1944 season.
Authentication: JSA Basic Cert & Sticker
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.