Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver Autographed OAL Baseball

• Sold For: $69,000
• Year: -
• Auction: 2007 October
• Lot #: 1
• Auction Category: Autographed Baseballs/Flats/Photos

Few names in baseball inspire quite like Shoeless Joe Jackson. The legend of his deeds on the field aroused comparisons to Ty Cobb during his playing days. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote of his misdeeds in the classic The Great Gatsby as did Eliot Asinof in Eight Men Out. The presented OAL Ban Johnson baseball features just two signatures - Joe Jackson (d.1951) and Buck Weaver (d.1956). The statistics suggest that neither man actually “threw” any games at the plate, as Jackson hit .375 and Weaver hit .324, the two highest batting averages for starters on the 1919 Chicago White Sox during the Series. Both men contended they were innocent and tried for years to get back into the game they so loved. The all-important Joe Jackson signature is positioned on the south panel in blue ink directly above the Ban Johnson stamp and grades a (“5”) in strength and clarity. The “Jac” in Jackson is slightly obscured but the overall presentation of the signature is stellar. The Buck Weaver script is on the east panel in black ink and is superb, grading a (“7”) with only a minor smudge on the first “e” in Weaver. The ball is uniformly toned with minor abrasions present. Both signatures display as singles, but it is the Jackson that will draw the majority of the attention. This magnificent sphere was most likely signed during the 1920 season and features the signatures of the two most likable figures in the dirty scandal that gave rise to the Black Sox reference. The incredible baseball comes with a full LOA from JSA.