Addendum: Ruth autograph "enhanced" according to PSA/DNA.

It’s no secret Babe Ruth signed a lot of baseballs in his day. And while many of these keepsakes are passed down the generational lines of those lucky recipients without much mention this particular ball has a great tale to tell with an added artistic bonus.

In the 1940’s our consignor’s father Hal Deam played in a band with Dick Winslow a very popular musician and entertainer in his time. According to IMDb Winslow appeared in 75 films before age 20. He also made dozens of television appearances and later had a long performance run at Disneyland. A detailed letter of provenance sets the scene.

“In August of 1947 they were playing at the Coconut Grove in the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Blvd. while Babe Ruth was staying there. On August 30 1947 Ruth was upstairs in bed not feeling well [he was diagnosed with cancer a year earlier]. Because Dick was so well-known around town he was invited up to meet him. But there was someone he wanted to bring. My father told me that Dick came to him very excitedly and said that he had arranged for both of them to meet ‘The Babe’. I was just six months old at the time and my father asked Ruth if he would autograph a ball to his son.  Ruth asked my father what his son's name was and my father responded ‘Rickey Deam’. But when Babe Ruth signed the ball he spelled it ‘Ricky’ without the ‘e.’ After Ruth signed the ball Dick Winslow asked if he could draw a picture of The Babe on it. Another of Dick's many talents was that he had been a baseball cartoonist for a newspaper. When Dick finished the drawing on the baseball he signed his own initials (DW) under his drawing of Babe Ruth.”

Ruth’s autograph on the sweet spot comes in thick black pen and presents remarkably bold (8/10 in our book) thanks in large part to the consignor’s father coating the ball with a fairly thick layer of shellac. Winslow’s neatly sketched profile drawing of Babe Ruth holding a bat appears on the panel to the left in the same thick black pen.

The ball is dated “aug 30th 1947” on the panel to the right but it is unclear if this was done by Ruth or Winslow. While all black pennings have been extremely well-preserved the ball itself has evenly toned and certainly shows its age. There is some scattered chipping to the shellac most visible on the “To Ricky” personalization. Due to the toning and shellac the only visible manufacturing stamp on the ball is “League”. You will be hard-pressed to find such a bold single-signed Babe Ruth ball in the market with such unique features and a detailed account to back it up.

PSA/DNA has deemed this ball "enhanced" meaning Ruth's signature has been traced over.