Lot # 2121: 500 Home Run Club Signed Baseball with 20 Signatures Including Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle - JSA and Beckett

Official American League (Brown) signed primarily in ink by 20 of the 28 members of baseball's legendary 500 Home Run Club. This is a remarkable 500 Home Run Club ball, as it lacks only the signatures of Barry Bonds, Miguel Cabrera, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, and Sammy Sosa (all of whom are still alive and accessible to autograph collectors) for modern-day completeness (Ruth, Foxx, and Ott, the first three players to reach the 500 home-run plateau, passed away long before such theme balls were in vogue among collectors). The signatures presented here are those of Ted Williams (sweet spot), Reggie Jackson (sweet spot), Mickey Mantle, Eddie Mathews, Frank Robinson, Willie Mays, Harmon Killebrew, Mike Schmidt, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Willie McCovey, Eddie Murray, Frank Thomas, Rafael Palmeiro, Albert Pujols, Mark McGwire, Jim Thome, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, and Gary Sheffield. The ball is lightly toned throughout but is otherwise in Near Mint condition. This is an outstanding 500 Home Run Club ball and one that, with some effort, could certainly be completed by a dedicated collector. It should be noted that in our May 2010 auction, REA offered another 500 Home Run Club ball with 21 of the then 25 possible signatures (missing only Bonds for modern-day completeness) that realized a final sale price of $9,988 (Lot 1129). Given that result, and the enormous significance and extreme rarity of a fully signed modern-day example (we've never seen one), the quest to obtain the final five signatures on this ball (and there is room to add additional signatures) could prove to be a wise investment in time and resources for the winning bidder. Full LOA from James Spence/JSA. Full LOA from Steve Grad and Brian Sobrero/Beckett Authentication Services.