
Appraisal: Ruth & Wagner Signed Ball, ca. 1933
Clip: Season 27 Episode 23 | 3m 36sVideo has Closed Captions
Appraisal: Ruth & Wagner Signed Ball, ca. 1933, from Charleston, Hour 1.
In Charleston, Hour 1, Leila Dunbar appraises a 1933 Ruth & Wagner Signed Ball.
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Funding for ANTIQUES ROADSHOW is provided by Ancestry and American Cruise Lines. Additional funding is provided by public television viewers.

Appraisal: Ruth & Wagner Signed Ball, ca. 1933
Clip: Season 27 Episode 23 | 3m 36sVideo has Closed Captions
In Charleston, Hour 1, Leila Dunbar appraises a 1933 Ruth & Wagner Signed Ball.
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipGUEST: I was out in the mid-'90s visiting my grandmother, introducing her to her latest grandson, and she asked me if I still played baseball.
And I said I did.
She held her finger and she went in the back room, we heard some drawers opening and closing, and she came back, she tossed me the ball, and I looked at it and I was...
I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
I asked my mom, "Is this real?"
And she says, "I've never seen it before."
So, my grandfather actually met these individuals in the mid-'30s, and it's been sitting in a drawer ever since.
APPRAISER: So how did your grandfather meet them?
GUEST: He worked for the cruise lines, actually, the state of California inspecting cruise ships.
These guys were either coming back or going to Hawaii.
From the port of Los Angeles.
APPRAISER: Okay, and did you ever know your grandfather?
GUEST: I did.
He did not talk about it.
He wasn't around when she gave it to me.
APPRAISER: Your grandmother put it in a letter for you.
GUEST: She did.
She wrote it down, she described the cruise lines and what he did.
APPRAISER: When we were reading your letter before, we noticed it said the Lore Line.
Well, Babe Ruth only took a couple of trips abroad.
In 1933, he actually traveled to Hawaii for an exhibition game.
And we believe that this ball was signed in 1933.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: By Babe Ruth.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And also by Hall-of-Famer Honus Wagner, and Al Simmons.
Honus Wagner, the great shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Al Simmons, great outfielder for the Athletics.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: Interestingly enough, there's also a George Earnshaw signature on here.
He was a great pitcher for the Athletics as well, who later went on to the White Sox.
We have a few mysteries about this baseball.
We can fill in some blanks and we're gonna have to give some conjecture about this.
In 1933, Ruth was winding down his career with the Yankees, and he had been bugging the Yankees for years to be a manager.
I found a 1947 article that they quoted Ed Barrow, the general manager of the Yankees, saying in October of 1933, Ruth approached him and said he had made a deal with the Detroit Tigers owner, Frank Navin, to hire Ruth as the manager.
He said, "You should take a train to Detroit right now and sign that contract."
And Ruth said, "Hey, I'm doing a couple of exhibition games "in Honolulu.
When I come back, I'll sign the contract."
Well, he went to Honolulu.
And when he came back, Frank Navin had already traded for Mickey Cochrane to be the next manager of the Detroit Tigers.
And he said, declared many times in his... after his career was over, it was his greatest disappointment in baseball.
Because he was a coach, but he never became a manager.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: We're not sure if the other players went with him on the trip or not, because we can't find any proof, but I'm gonna tell you about the second thing that makes this special, which means, whether the players went with him or not, doesn't matter.
It looks like it was signed yesterday.
GUEST: It does.
APPRAISER: I've seen thousands of Babe Ruth baseballs, and this one on a scale of one to ten, is a ten.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: The Honus Wagner.
We see many signed baseballs by Honus Wagner; this is a ten.
The ball is an eight, it's creamy, it's beautiful, it's red and green stitching, which they only used 'till 1934.
You add this all together, and you put an insurance value on one of the most spectacularly signed baseballs we've seen by Ruth and Wagner, the first class of the Hall of Fame in 1936.
I'd insure this for $30,000.
GUEST: Wow, you're kidding.
That is fantastic.
Thank you.
APPRAISER: Are you surprised?
GUEST: I am shocked, I am floored.
Appraisal: 1873 California Gold Quartz Presentation Cane
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 44s | Appraisal: 1873 California Gold Quartz Presentation Cane (44s)
Appraisal: 1900 Mark Twain Letter
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 1m 20s | Appraisal: 1900 Mark Twain Letter (1m 20s)
Appraisal: 1903 Colt Single Action Army Revolver
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 2m 17s | Appraisal: 1903 Colt Single Action Army Revolver (2m 17s)
Appraisal: Benjamin Greenleaf Portraits, ca. 1810
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 3m 21s | Appraisal: Benjamin Greenleaf Oil Portraits, ca. 1810 (3m 21s)
Appraisal: Concord, Massachusetts Card Table, ca. 1800
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 2m 30s | Appraisal: Concord, Massachusetts Federal Card Table, ca. 1800 (2m 30s)
Appraisal: Dalzell Findlay Onyx Muffineer, ca. 1889
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 1m 2s | Appraisal: Dalzell Findlay Onyx Muffineer, ca. 1889 (1m 2s)
Appraisal: Dedham Pottery Vase, ca. 1900
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 40s | Appraisal: Dedham Pottery Vase, ca. 1900 (40s)
Appraisal: French Campaign Clock, ca. 1790
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 42s | Appraisal: French Campaign Clock, ca. 1790 (42s)
Appraisal: French Porcelain Vases, ca. 1860
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 2m 56s | Appraisal: French Porcelain Vases, ca. 1860 (2m 56s)
Appraisal: Hiratsuka Filigree & Cloisonné Teapot, ca. 1895
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 1m 16s | Appraisal: Hiratsuka Filigree & Cloisonné Teapot, ca. 1895 (1m 16s)
Appraisal: Hopi Kachina Figure, ca. 1910
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 1m 57s | Appraisal: Hopi Kachina Figure, ca. 1910 (1m 57s)
Appraisal: Late 19th-C. Fish Scale-decorated Anchor & Dome
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 1m 8s | Appraisal: Late 19th C. Fish Scale-decorated Anchor (1m 8s)
Appraisal: Matched-pair Diamond Ring, ca. 1910
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 2m 57s | Appraisal: Matched-pair Diamond Ring, ca. 1910 (2m 57s)
Appraisal: Oglala Sioux Winter Count
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 3m 31s | Appraisal: Oglala Sioux Winter Count (3m 31s)
Appraisal: Oil Painting Attributed to Franciabigio
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 2m 44s | Appraisal: Oil Painting Attributed to Franciabigio, ca. 1520 (2m 44s)
Appraisal: Old Hickory Chair Company Rocker, ca. 1910
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 3m 14s | Appraisal: Old Hickory Rocking Chair, ca. 1910 (3m 14s)
Appraisal: Ottoman Zarf, ca. 1875
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 3m 47s | Appraisal: Ottoman Zarf, ca. 1875 (3m 47s)
Appraisal: Renaissance-revival Poison Ring, ca. 1875
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 3m 39s | Appraisal: Renaissance-revival Poison Ring, ca. 1875, in Green Bay Hour 2. (3m 39s)
Appraisal: Ruby & Diamond Bracelet, ca. 1895
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 2m 26s | Appraisal: Ruby & Diamond Bracelet, ca. 1895 (2m 26s)
Appraisal: Windsor Chair & Passport, ca. 1815
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 2m 39s | Appraisal: Child's Windsor Chair & Passport, ca. 1815 (2m 39s)
Appraisal: Diamond & Emerald Conversion Ring, ca. 1920
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Clip: S27 Ep23 | 2m 57s | Appraisal: Diamond & Emerald Conversion Ring, ca. 1920 (2m 57s)
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Funding for ANTIQUES ROADSHOW is provided by Ancestry and American Cruise Lines. Additional funding is provided by public television viewers.