This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/2/2021
Every aspiring baseball player dreams of winning a championship, but for legendary Hall of Famer Ty Cobb, anything less was considered a failure. Cobb played the game with a chip on his shoulder the size of his home state of Georgia, viewing his opponent as an enemy of war and the baseball diamond as his property. "The base paths belonged to me, the runner" Cobb said, "The rules gave me the right. I always went into a bag full speed, feet first. I had sharp spikes on my shoes. If the baseman stood where he had no business to be and got hurt, that was his fault." Cobb retired at the age of 41 when he had decided that he could no longer perform at a level that satisfied him, though his statistics from that final season would still be the envy of most; a .323 batting average with 27 doubles in just 353 at-bats. While Cobb managed to become more subdued following his retirement, his brusque personality during his playing days yielded surprisingly few examples of his autograph while still a player. The large majority of Ty Cobb signed items are cut signatures, cancelled checks and the occasional signed baseball that is dated long after his career had concluded. Presented is one of the very finest single-signed baseballs that we have ever offered featuring the 12-time batting champion. A wonderfully bold signature is placed to the left of the OAL (Johnson) stamp, which was produced in the early 1920s, the twilight of Cobb's career. The Official Reach stamp is fresh out of the box bold and the blue ink signature is clean and sharp, rating an overall grade of 6.5 by PSA/DNA but displaying with superior eye appeal. A truly stunning piece that traces directly back to the heyday of the great Ty Cobb, and we can't emphasize enough how special this museum-quality piece is! LOA from JSA and PSA/DNA.