Description:

Babe Ruth and Gary Cooper signed baseball from the 1942 Oscar winning Lou Gehrig biopic, “The Pride of the Yankees" – 16 signatures in all

GEORGE HERMAN "BABE" RUTH (1895-1948) ET AL. Unique Display! Baseball Signed “Babe Ruth," “Gary Cooper" (nominated for Best Actor Academy Award for role as Lou Gehrig), “With appreciation / Eleanor Gehrig" (Gehrig’s widow), producer “Sam Goldwyn," director “Sam Wood," three-time Oscar winner “Walter Brennan" (major role), Hall of Famer “Bill Dickey" (played himself), and outfielder “Babe Herman" (Cooper’s double in long shots). Later signed by Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle (signing just beneath Babe Ruth), Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, Warren Spahn, Eddie Mathews, Stan Musial, and Duke Snider, averaging 3/10 in strength. Spalding Official League Ball (most probably used in the filming) mounted on a "Compliments of Christy Walsh/Pride of the Yankees" blotter (text barely legible), indicating that the ball was a gift from the pioneer sports agent whose star clients included Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

Babe Ruth’s signature exhibits 7/10 strength; Gary Cooper’s, right above the Babe, shows 2/10. The ball is deeply toned. It belonged to Frank Maher who has penned his name above Mrs. Gehrig’s inscription. Maher handled sound for the Oscar winning baseball biopic was nominated for 11 Academy Awards. The film's iconic line – "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth" – was voted 38th on the American Film Institute’s list of 100 greatest movie quotes.

PSA/DNA Letter of Authenticity.
JSA Auction Letter of Authenticity.

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