Lot # 2175: 1903 Boston Americans vs. Pittsburgh Pirates World Series Game-Used Baseball - MEARS

Reach American League baseball used during the 1903 World Series between the Boston Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates. This baseball was initially acquired by a longtime Fenway Park employee. Beyond attending countless games, the individual spent substantial time at the ballpark before and after games. Following their passing, the ball was bequeathed to our consignor's family. This inaugural Fall Classic in modern times witnessed Young’s Boston Red Sox defeat the favored Pirates in eight games. The World Series was born when Barney Dreyfuss and Henry Killilea, the respective owners of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox, agreed in August to match their first-place clubs in a best-of-nine postseason series to determine what they declared to be the "World's Championship." (The 1903 World Series was the first postseason series between interleague champions since 1890, when the National League champion Brooklyn Bridegrooms met the American Association champion Louisville Cyclones.) Fan interest in such postseason championships had waned during the 1890s, but the revival staged by Boston and Pittsburgh attracted 16,242 fans to watch Game 1. In total, nearly 100,000 fans poured through the turnstiles to witness the first World Series in modern history. The red-and-blue stitched ball features heavy wear, with soiling and several surface abrasions visible throughout. MEARS, who used a digital microscope to authenticate the baseball, identified a pair of factory stampings used on 1903 American League baseballs. The notations "Boston, Pitts, '03, World Series" are written along a side panel. Confirmed to be vintage ink through the microscope inspection, per MEARS, "[this] serves as the sole source of World Series attribution." Full LOA from MEARS.