Any good way to autograph a wet baseball?

[beef]

I just bought the baseball that Nelson Cruz hit into the "ray pool" in Tampa. It's been a week and the ball is still water logged. I was thinking about having him sign it with a cool inscription or something but don't want the ink to bleed or just look terrible. Any ideas on how to get a good clean signature? Thanks!
-Ryan

[ethanoah]

Ryan,

I got a baseball signed this spring training that I didn't realize was barely wet and it looks terrible at the point (only 3 months later). I've read about putting baseballs in the oven (around 200 degrees) or in the dryer on a shoe rack but I've never tried it. Hopefully some method works out for you.

Ethan

[camarokids]

The Ray Pool is in St. Petersburg, FL NOT Tampa!

Put the ball out in the warm FL sun and let it dry out.

[beef]

Sorry to offend camaro, I actually live in NY and didn't realize the Tampa Bay Rays don't play in Tampa. I might have to ship it back to Florida to find sunshine haha. Thanks for the advice.

Ethan, that's exactly what I was worried about.

[camarokids]

Sorry to offend camaro, I actually live in NY and didn't realize the Tampa Bay Rays don't play in Tampa. I might have to ship it back to Florida to find sunshine haha. Thanks for the advice.

Ethan, that's exactly what I was worried about.

No worries Beef. I have emailed the guys on MLB Network to let them know and they actually say St. Petersburg most of the time now.

Not much sun here in IN either......

[wfl1974]

You might try the old rice in bag trick that sometimes works with cell phones when they get dropped in water...not sure if it would work, but it might be worth a try...from the sounds of it, you may have to use a pretty generous portion of rice.

[johnsontravis@ymail.com]

First of all please don't stick it in an oven. Sounds waaaaaaaay waaaaaaay waaaaaay too risky Honestly patience is probably best.

[Swoboda4]

....with a wet pen. Thank you, thank you very much. Try the veal, it's the best in town...

[danesei@yahoo.com]

You could try the Sharpie Industrial pens, but I think many collectors would be turned off by the Sharpie (v ballpoint) look on the ball. You could also use the drying techniques, but the starch in the rice may actually hurt the ball.

Have you tried putting it in a desiccant container?

Side note: How do you know the ball was the HR ball? Did the seller send a picture of themselves holding the ball? I actually don't know how one would verify that. This somewhat relates to the inscription, as I'd be unsure of how Mr Cruz would be able to validate the inscription requested.

As for Tampa v St Pete... I've always wondered, is it just the bridge that divides the two? I've also wondered how parking/traffic is for games. The stadium looks like it's in the middle of the business district on maps.

[beef]

You could try the Sharpie Industrial pens, but I think many collectors would be turned off by the Sharpie (v ballpoint) look on the ball. You could also use the drying techniques, but the starch in the rice may actually hurt the ball.

Have you tried putting it in a desiccant container?

Side note: How do you know the ball was the HR ball? Did the seller send a picture of themselves holding the ball? I actually don't know how one would verify that. This somewhat relates to the inscription, as I'd be unsure of how Mr Cruz would be able to validate the inscription requested.

I'll have to do some research on the container, never heard of it. I'm worried the saltwater and any drying method may alter the ball so I may just let it dry out naturally. I'm going to cleveland next week and was hoping he'd inscribe it for me but I doubt it'll be dry in time. As far as authenticity goes, the rays stuck their hologram on the ball cube and gave me a paper coa from them. I'm not too worried about it being legit as I've done multiple transactions with them and I don't plan on selling the ball.