Description:

Ruth Babe 1895 - 1948 The Sultan of Swat, the Catcher Who Was a Spy, and others have signed this early 1930s Official American League Baseball Baseball Signed "Babe Ruth," "Jimmie Foxx," "Moe Berg," "Mickey Cochrane," "George Kelly," "Ted Lyons," "Herb Hunter," "Estel Crabtree," "T.L. Douthit," "Bill Brubaker," "Augie Galan," and others including, possibly, Lefty O'Doul. Toned. Ruth "6-7" strength, Berg "5", others "1-3".

In 1931, former infielder Herb Hunter, who had travelled to Japan numerous times earning the nickname "baseball's ambassador," was asked by a Japanese newspaper if he could assemble a team of American ballplayers to come to Japan for an exhibition game tour against Japanese college teams. It was a success. Led by Lefty O'Doul and Lou Gehrig, the team went 17-0, with the attendance at the four games in Tokyo averaging 55,000. The following year, Hunter had another idea. He realized that the Japanese didn't know much about baseball techniques and strategy. So when he assembled a team to play exhibition games in Honolulu on October 9 and 11, 1932, three players continued on to Japan where Hunter had arranged for seminars for players on the six teams in the Tokyo University League. The instructors were Hunter (fielding), Moe Berg (catching), Ted Lyons (pitching), and Lefty O'Doul (hitting). Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Cochrane, George Kelly, Taylor Douthit, Estel Crabtree, and Bill Brubaker were among those who stayed in Honolulu.

In 1934, Berg returned to Japan as a member of another U.S. team. From the roof the tallest building in Tokyo, using his movie camera which he had hidden underneath his kimono, Berg took a series of photos panning the harbor and the industrial sections of Tokyo, possibly munitions factories. His movies were used in the planning of Doolittle's 1942 bombing raids.

PSA/DNA LOA

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