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1927 Johnny Neun Unassisted Triple Play Baseball
Among baseball rarities, virtually none surpass the Unassisted Triple Play. To date, only 15 have been turned in Major League history, an occurrence even scarcer than the Perfect Game, of which there have been 23. On May 31, 1927, Johnny Neun single-handedly snuffed out a Clevelend Indians rally by turning the rarest of tricks. It came in dramatic fashion, with Detroit carrying a 1-0 lead into the ninth inning. With two on, Neun grabbed a screaming liner at first base, tagged the wayward runner in front of him, and trotted to second base, where that unaware runner was circling third, to complete the feat. This extraordinarily historic baseball was given directly by Jonhny Neun to a collector who had it for 50 years, until the family of the collector decided to sell it. Just to be clear, the ball went from Neun, to the collector, to this auction. There were many other items that Johnny gave or sold to this collector; included with the ball are Johnny‚s personal fountain pen with his name engraved and a 1926 photograph signed and inscribed to the family of the collector. The baseball itself shows game use and is an Official American League (Johnson) ball that dates perfectly to 1927 - the labeling was a one-year style. After the game, Johnny kept and notated the baseball, "Triple Play Unassisted May 31, 1927, Detroit 1 Cleveland 0." At some point, this writing was enhanced, though we are not sure if this was done by John himself or the collector, and the signature on the sweet spot also is enhanced. Although these were enhanced at some point, under magnification, it can be seen that the original faded ink was of the exact same notations and date. An artifact deserving to be the centerpiece of any collection.
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