This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 2/7/2014.
“The Best…Ever”. We hear these words quite frequently as they are carelessly thrown around when discussing a certain player or team throughout the pantheon of sports history. Very rarely do these mighty accolades live up to the hype. Once in a great while though, “The Best Ever” is truly that; when the court of public opinion meshes with iron clad fact, swirling around in a perfect storm with history in the making and the magic that creates Legends. The 1927 New York Yankees were, indeed The Best…Ever. Given the nickname “Murderer’s Row” as a result of the first six lethal batters in their line-up, the 1927 New York Yankees went 110-44, winning the American League Pennant by an astounding 19 games and sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series. They batted an unbelievable .307 as a team, slugged .489, scored 975 runs, and outscored their opponents by a record 376 runs. Center fielder Earle Combs had a career best year, batting .356 with 231 hits, left fielder Bob Meusel batted .337 with 103 RBIs, and second baseman Tony Lazzeri drove in 102 runs. The Iron Horse, Lou Gehrig batted .373, with 218 hits, 52 doubles, 18 triples, 47 home runs, a then record 175 RBIs, slugged at .765, and was voted the American League MVP. Babe Ruth amassed a .356 batting average, 164 RBIs, 158 runs scored, walked 137 times, and slugged a ridiculous .772. Most notably, The Bambino’s 60 home runs that year broke his own record and remained the Major League mark for 34 years. This “Reach” manufactured OAL Ban Johnson red-and-blue stitched baseball has been signed by 22 members of World Champion 1927 New York Yankees. Notable signatures include the Sultan of Swat, Babe Ruth, on the sweet spot, as well as Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig, Waite Hoyt, Earle Combs and Herb Pennock. Additional signatures include Wilcy Moore, Urban Shocker (rare), Pat Collins, Dutch Ruether, Joe Giard, Johnny Grabowski, Joe Dugan, Ben Paschal, George Pipgras, Mark Koenig, Mike Gazella, Bob Shawkey, Myles Thomas, Julie Wera, Cedric Durst, Miller Huggins (mgr, ch) and Don Miller. Miller was a young college pitcher who joined the Yankees in June of ‘27, he earned a World Series ring with the Yankees and his signature is extremely rare. The signatures are all done in blue fountain ink and in our opinion rate a near 7 overall. “NAT’L AIR DERBY - WACO “8” 1927” is written in black ink below the stitching near the stamp; it refers to a transcontinental air race originating in New York that took place in September of 1927, one month before the Yankees defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in the ‘27 World Series. Adjacent below are the signatures of John P. Wood, a pilot from New York and one of fifteen that competed in the race, along with his co-pilot W. H. Wren. Both signatures are done in black fountain ink and in our opinion rate a 7 overall. A coat of translucent lacquer has been applied to the baseball to prevent damage to the signatures. The baseball is accompanied by a Full JSA LOA backed by a Full PSA/DNA LOA.