This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/4/2008.
When the NY Yankees headed off to Japan for the Opening Series of the 2004 baseball season, they took along with them their newest addition. “Batting clean up and playing third base for the NY Yankees, number 13, Alex Rodriguez.” A-Rod would waste no time during his Yankee debut. He led off the sixth inning with a double to right field off of Victor Zambrano of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He later scored on a bloop base hit and the rest, as they say is history. Alex now has five full seasons in pinstripes under his belt, but this is where it all began. This is THE baseball thrown by Victor Zambrano and belted to right by Alex Rodriguez for his first base hit, a double, as a NY Yankee. Alex has signed the sweet spot of this game-used baseball in blue ink, a signature that rates a strong 9. On the south panel directly beneath the signature is an inscription, written in black ink by a NY Yankee official which reads “1st Yankee Base Hit Double vs. Zambrano 3-30-04 Tokyo Dome.” On the west panel is a large hit mark adjacent to the “Rawlings” stamp. There is the MLB hologram affixed, numbered “MR474624.” On the east panel is the “OPENING SERIES JAPAN 2004” stamp. On the reverse sweet spot is “OFFICIAL BALL 2004 JAPAN OPENING SERIES” along with Bud Selig’s facsimile signature. This baseball shows excellent game-use with a large hit mark and smudges throughout and is accompanied by a hand-signed LOA from A-Rod himself. It is also accompanied by a LOA from JSA.