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1977 Reggie Jackson's First Home Run Baseball from World Series Game Six
<font color="red">The ticket stubbs are from Games Two and Six. Reggie Jackson personally acknowledged to our consignor that the first home run in game 6 was the only ball he did not get back the night of the game. Also, Reggie hit four homeruns in four consecutive at-bats during the 1977 World Series. </font><br>The Wednesday, October 19, 1977 New York Post pictures our consignor, David Schwinger, holding this ball aloft in the right field bleachers, and even features an article about the then-nineteen year-old's lucky day. "...It was hit right to me in the front row. There was a lot of pushing and shoving. But I got it. It hit me right in the stomach..." It was the first of three home runs that Reggie would club that day, and brought home both Reggie and Thurman Munson to give the Yanks a lead that they would never lose. The painful-looking scuff on the panel just below the OAL (MacPhail) stamp bears witness to the meeting with a 500 Home Run Club member's bat that October night, marking its place in history. This is the ball that won the Championship for the Bronx Bombers. This is the essence of the man who would forever after be known as "Mr. October." But Schwinger was a liar. He's the first to admit it. He was a dumb kid at the time, had had a few drinks that night and perpetrated perhaps the greatest baseball theft since Jackie Robinson stole home against Yogi Berra decades earlier. The fact is, Schwinger did not actually catch the ball. A young lady seated next to him did. But despite the fact that the Son of Sam was lurking somewhere in the Bronx night, it was a much more trusting time. So when Schwinger offered to take the ball to Reggie to get it signed for her, she happily agreed. And he did return to her a Reggie Jackson signed baseball, but pulled "the ol' switcheroo," swapping the home run ball for another that Jackson had been tossing around in the outfield. He related this story to Leland's staffers with some embarrassment. We were quite impressed though. He could have easily left this uncomfortable twist to the story hidden in the dark closet of history, directing our attention to the photos and article in the Post, to the pair of Game Six ticket stubs (also included) pegging him to those bleacher seats where he appears in the full-page news photo, ball in hand. He just wanted to be straight with us, and we want to be straight with you, the bidders. All dirty tricks aside, and regardless of who it was that snatched this ball from the sky, this is certainly the first of the three that Reggie retired that night in the greatest performance of his Hall of Fame career.
Past Sports Card, Memorabilia, Non-Sports Card and Collecitble Auction Items
Other past auction items that may be of interest to you.
1977 Thurman Munson Testimonial Collection
2001 Paul O'Neill Last Yankee Stadium Game Used Baseball
1978 World Series Black Bat Set of 2
1930's-60's New York Yankees & Others Signed Baseballs (13) & World Series Programs (5)
1996 New York Yankees Team Signed Baseball
1964 New York Yankees Yoo-Hoo Cardboard Advertising Sign (11x14”)
Circa 1968 Joe DiMaggio & Mickey Mantle Signed Photograph (8x10")
