1978 Bluefield Orioles Team-Signed Ball with Ripken

[grandpahoo]

When I was growing up I lived down the street from a cousin who was my age. Our grandparents lived in Bramwell, WV, which is outside Bluefield. We used to visit them together in the summer, but for some reason when we were 9 we went at different times. I can't remember the circumstances, but when he was there he ended up going to a Bluefield O's game and got to hang out in the locker room afterwards, where he got the whole team to sign a baseball. I coveted that damn ball for years. I can't remember all the players who signed it, with the exception of Ripken and John Shelby. Anyway, I've never seen one of these in an auction, and have no idea what the value would be. Any ideas? I'm sure he has the ball packed away somewhere, and I was thinking about asking him if he'd ever considered selling it.

[grandpahoo]

Thought I'd give this one more shot just in case some people didn't see it.

[mr.miracle]

Great question, in all my years collecting Ripken game used and autographs, I have never seen a Bluefield Orioles team signed ball from 78 or any game used Ripken except for one item which was the 78 bat used by Cal at Bluefield that recently sold at through Mastronet for over $12 grand. Anyway, I have seen a number of Rochester Redwings team signed balls from 81 with Cal's sig and these went for a couple of hundred bucks at best. My guess is probably $500 tops but who knows.

[ironmanfan]

There are so many factors that may involved IMO it's really impossible to determine a value without seeing it first. Things that would affect the value would include (but not limited to) whether it was signed on an Official Appalachian League ball or not, the clarity/contrast of the signatures nearly 30 years later, the number of signatures, the overall condition of the ball, etc. I have a '78 program that was signed by the entire club approximately one week into the season (due to fact that it includes both Boddicker & Bonner) that I might post scans to either this or the autograph board.

As an aside, here is a ball that Cal signed for me last weekend after a brief meeting (and a reminiscing of the HOF weekend)..

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k172/whhp72/ebay102307007.jpg

[grandpahoo]

There are so many factors that may involved IMO it's really impossible to determine a value without seeing it first. Things that would affect the value would include (but not limited to) whether it was signed on an Official Appalachian League ball or not, the clarity/contrast of the signatures nearly 30 years later, the number of signatures, the overall condition of the ball, etc. I have a '78 program that was signed by the entire club approximately one week into the season (due to fact that it includes both Boddicker & Bonner) that I might post scans to either this or the autograph board.

As an aside, here is a ball that Cal signed for me last weekend after a brief meeting (and a reminiscing of the HOF weekend)..

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k172/whhp72/ebay102307007.jpg

That's pretty cool. I may be the only collector in Baltimore who's never gotten an autograph from Ripken in person.

[grandpahoo]

Great question, in all my years collecting Ripken game used and autographs, I have never seen a Bluefield Orioles team signed ball from 78 or any game used Ripken except for one item which was the 78 bat used by Cal at Bluefield that recently sold at through Mastronet for over $12 grand. Anyway, I have seen a number of Rochester Redwings team signed balls from 81 with Cal's sig and these went for a couple of hundred bucks at best. My guess is probably $500 tops but who knows.

I think that sounds about right - $500 would probably be the upper end, and only if it was in great condition. My guess is that it's not, which would likely put it in the $200 - $300 range. Cool item nonetheless.