This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/10/2001.
On March 28, 1999, the Baltimore Orioles took the field in Havana's Estadio Latin Americano to play the powerful Cuban National Team in a one-game exhibition, marking the first time in 40 years that a big league team had played on Cuban soil. "Baseball diplomacy" thawed the chill between the two countries and when the game began, Commissioner Bud Selig sat next to Cuban President Fidel Castro, who at one time wanted to be a big league pitcher, while a delegation of Americans looked on including home run king Hank Aaron. On the field, the two teams played a tough game, with the Orioles prevailing 3-2 in 11 innings on Harold Baines' RBI single. This historic OAL Budig ball was used in the game and later signed by both Aaron and Castro. Aaron wrote his name and "#755", his record lifetime home run total, on the sweet spot in black marker, rating a solid 9, while Castro's jagged signature is high on a side panel in black ink, rating a 7. This ball is as good a symbol as any that baseball's universal appeal can transcend politics.