This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/20/2013
“You can write him down as one of the two models of ball-playing grace,” Grantland Rice wrote of the Grey Eagle.. "Speaker never wasted a motion or gave you any sign of extra effort. ... They had the same elements that made a Bobby Jones or the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame -- the smoothness of a summer wind.” Featured is without hesitation the finest single signed Tris Speaker ball we have ever offered or for that matter encountered within our time in the hobby! Tris Speaker, Ty Cobb’s friendly rival as the greatest center fielder of the Deadball Era, could field and throw better than the Georgia Peach even if he could not quite match him as a hitter. Legendary for his short outfield play, Speaker led the American League in putouts seven times and in double plays six times in a 22-year career with Boston, Cleveland, Washington, and Philadelphia. Speaker’s career totals in both categories are still major-league records at his position. No slouch at the plate, Speaker had a lifetime batting average of .345, sixth on the all-time list, and no one has surpassed his career mark of 792 doubles. He was also one of the game’s most successful player-managers. A man’s man who hunted, fished, could bulldog a steer, and taught Will Rogers how to use a lariat. The featured collectible hails as one of the very finest examples of a single signed Tris Speaker baseball extant and is presented on a Official American League (OAL) William Harridge ball with the stamping retaining in a somewhat lighter than original format all of their inkings and the signature rating a solid and spectacular 8/9 in terms of boldness while in our opinion the ball ranks a solid 7/8. A stunning and exceptionally strong ball offered with a JSA LOA (Full Letter) and a PSA/DNA LOA (Full Letter).