This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 5/11/2001.
Tris Speaker was a lifetime .344 hitter who played 22 seasons mainly with the Red Sox and Indians. An early Hall of Famer, the slick centerfielder was known for parlaying his fame into commercial gain, having traded his 1912 MVP award for a $1,950 automobile. Speaker made side deals such as the one in which he received $50 every time he hit the Bull Durham sign in Fenway Park, and even had a straw hat named after him. Hassan cigarettes created its most popular trading cards of Speaker, whose retirement as a player-manager in 1926 was hastened by a rumored game-fixing scandal. This rare, lightly toned circa-1920s OAL ball is in overall excellent condition. Speaker's large, clear signature is in black fountain pen on the sweet spot, rating at least a 9. The ball's original markings are sharp but for AL president Ban Johnson's stamped-on signature, which has faded with age.