Friday, April 16, 2004
The News Item
Autograph on baseball belongs to Willie Mays, outfit confirms
By Eric Scicchitano , Staff Writer 04/16/2004
RANSHAW — It’s official, and it’s authentic.
That’s the word Dan Worhach received from PSA-DNA Authentication Services of Orwigsburg about the Willie Mays Jr. autographed baseball he found last year.
The baseball, dated July 2, 1950, was given to Worhach by his uncle, the late Anthony Bartosic, who attended an Interstate League Class B baseball game in Sunbury where a young Willie Mays autographed a foul ball — long before the “Say Hey Kid” hit 660 home runs and won two National League MVP awards.
Jim Spence, lead authenticator at PSA-DNA, verified the autograph was authentic in just under two hours last month by comparing it to other Mays’ signatures stored in an exemplar file. He said the file stores many autographs of an individual and details a signature’s evolution since it may change over time.
Worhach said the autograph was compared to another taken from a letter Mays sent to a girlfriend in 1951. Upon authentication, Worhach received a certificate of authentication and explained invisible ink was placed on the baseball to ensure its validation.
Though the actual Mays signature itself is not rare, Spence said the time at which it was signed makes it one of the earliest examples known.
“It’s a wonderful item, it’s certainly a period piece,” Spence said. “If he intends on auctioning or selling it, he should do pretty well.”
With more than 15 years in the authentication business, Spence said the firm deals with autographs from all arenas, including sports, politics, entertainment and historical artifacts. He said 90 percent of his firm’s work is related to authenticating sports memorabilia.
A division of publicly held Collectors Universe of Newport Beach, Calif., PSA-DNA authenticated Mark McGwire’s 70th home run baseball in 1998, Shoeless Joe Jackson’s Black Betsy bat and a 1927 autographed Babe Ruth-Lou Gehrig wire photo.
An avid sports memorabilia collector himself, Spence stopped short of estimating the worth of the Mays autograph so as not to stunt the growth of its value.
“If there are two people in an auction, they’ll beat each other up over the price,” he explained. “If there is one figure, it may only fetch that.”
The money may be good, but Worhach said recently that he will hold onto the baseball for some time. He said he plans to enter a notarized contract with the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., to allow the baseball to be displayed for a year. After that, he’s not sure what he will do with it.
Worhach said he has been in contact with Mays’ personal office through e-mail and recently received word that, despite the baseball great’s interest in the baseball, his lawyers advised him to not reply personally to Worhach.
Worhach isn’t giving up hope in his quest to speak with Mays.
“I just want to talk about the game with him and see if he remembers it,” Worhach said.
He would also like to somehow have Mays autograph the ball next year on the 55th anniversary of the original autograph.
Mays may be hard to reach, but Worhach may soon be in contact with another baseball legend, Mays’ godson Barry Bonds.
Worhach contacted Bonds’ Web site through e-mail and received word the same day that the San Francisco Giant would soon read it. He said the e-mail explained Bonds’ schedule is hectic between the regular season and his record 661st home run, one better than his godfather, which he hit on Tuesday.
Autograph on baseball belongs to Willie Mays, outfit confirms
By Eric Scicchitano , Staff Writer 04/16/2004
RANSHAW — It’s official, and it’s authentic.
That’s the word Dan Worhach received from PSA-DNA Authentication Services of Orwigsburg about the Willie Mays Jr. autographed baseball he found last year.
The baseball, dated July 2, 1950, was given to Worhach by his uncle, the late Anthony Bartosic, who attended an Interstate League Class B baseball game in Sunbury where a young Willie Mays autographed a foul ball — long before the “Say Hey Kid” hit 660 home runs and won two National League MVP awards.
Jim Spence, lead authenticator at PSA-DNA, verified the autograph was authentic in just under two hours last month by comparing it to other Mays’ signatures stored in an exemplar file. He said the file stores many autographs of an individual and details a signature’s evolution since it may change over time.
Worhach said the autograph was compared to another taken from a letter Mays sent to a girlfriend in 1951. Upon authentication, Worhach received a certificate of authentication and explained invisible ink was placed on the baseball to ensure its validation.
Though the actual Mays signature itself is not rare, Spence said the time at which it was signed makes it one of the earliest examples known.
“It’s a wonderful item, it’s certainly a period piece,” Spence said. “If he intends on auctioning or selling it, he should do pretty well.”
With more than 15 years in the authentication business, Spence said the firm deals with autographs from all arenas, including sports, politics, entertainment and historical artifacts. He said 90 percent of his firm’s work is related to authenticating sports memorabilia.
A division of publicly held Collectors Universe of Newport Beach, Calif., PSA-DNA authenticated Mark McGwire’s 70th home run baseball in 1998, Shoeless Joe Jackson’s Black Betsy bat and a 1927 autographed Babe Ruth-Lou Gehrig wire photo.
An avid sports memorabilia collector himself, Spence stopped short of estimating the worth of the Mays autograph so as not to stunt the growth of its value.
“If there are two people in an auction, they’ll beat each other up over the price,” he explained. “If there is one figure, it may only fetch that.”
The money may be good, but Worhach said recently that he will hold onto the baseball for some time. He said he plans to enter a notarized contract with the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., to allow the baseball to be displayed for a year. After that, he’s not sure what he will do with it.
Worhach said he has been in contact with Mays’ personal office through e-mail and recently received word that, despite the baseball great’s interest in the baseball, his lawyers advised him to not reply personally to Worhach.
Worhach isn’t giving up hope in his quest to speak with Mays.
“I just want to talk about the game with him and see if he remembers it,” Worhach said.
He would also like to somehow have Mays autograph the ball next year on the 55th anniversary of the original autograph.
Mays may be hard to reach, but Worhach may soon be in contact with another baseball legend, Mays’ godson Barry Bonds.
Worhach contacted Bonds’ Web site through e-mail and received word the same day that the San Francisco Giant would soon read it. He said the e-mail explained Bonds’ schedule is hectic between the regular season and his record 661st home run, one better than his godfather, which he hit on Tuesday.
