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Pair of Amazing 19th Century Baseballs
These two history-drenched, leather-covered, hand-stitched baseballs are the very essence of baseball's formative years. The amazingly rare survivors are of the type that came in when the game was called Town Ball in the 1860s and went out in the late 1870s when balls with gray or eventually white covers were judged as more practical (good thing, too, considering what would have happened had the "brownies" been used when night games came around). Both balls are approx. 9.25" round, with one approx. 5.7 oz. and the other a featherweight 4.1 oz. While the latter has obviously atrophied through the years the lightness of both seems to further peg them as post-1872 balls, since that year balls were reduced from 9.5 to 9.25", and to under 6 oz. (one caveat: determining original measurements of balls as old as these is not a precise science.). Still, for all the little details -- such as the non-raised stitching that would make 2 or 4-seam fastballs (or any other pitch) impossible to throw -- it's remarkable how little balls have changed since then. The gorgeous dark-chocolate spheres have the same figure-8 stitching as today's ball and the dimensions are roughly the same. (This is also the case with other early balls such as the "lemon peel" with its "X" stitching.) The biggest change, of course, is what's inside the ball. These likely have a soft cloth core, not cork or rubber -- and whatever else they're juicing balls up with these days. Exceptional and early figure eight have some seam splitting o/w EX.
Past Sports Card, Memorabilia, Non-Sports Card and Collecitble Auction Items
Other past auction items that may be of interest to you.
1865 First Baseball Cigar Label
19th Century Baseball Tintypes (2)
The American National Game of Baseball Vintage Print (18x24”)
19th Century Lemon Peel Baseball
1865 First Baseball Cigar Label
19th Century Baseball Tintypes (2)
The American National Game of Baseball Vintage Print (18x24”)