This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/10/2001.
This gorgeous Babe Ruth-signed ball will grab serious Ruth collectors, as it is among the Bambino's last documented autographs and is connected to the movie "The Babe Ruth Story," an epic turned modern-day cult classic. Ruth, who was hired as the technical adviser for the 1948 film starring William Bendix as the Babe, signed this beautiful near-mint-mint OAL Harridge ball for Richard Lightner, the son of producer-director Roy Del Ruth. The inscription reads, "To Richard, from Babe Ruth" in blue fountain pen. The signature rates a very strong 9 and crackles with Ruth's electric personality, which endured until his dying day only months later. The ball itself is beautifully cream colored and near flawless with a light stamp and comes with a PSA letter of authenticity and documentation provided by Richard Lightner explaining its history. Also included are four 8" x 10" glossies of Roy Del Ruth dining with Ruth, another of him with several people (one of them actor William Frawley), and two of the film's opening at New York's Astor Theater.