The last home run ball hit by Babe Ruth at Yankee Stadium is being offered in an online auction, March 30, to help pay a college student's loans.
Tustin, CA (PRWEB) March 27, 2006 -- A Georgia grandfather is helping his grandson pay off his college loans with the upcoming sale of an old, autographed baseball. It's the last home run ball ever hit by Babe Ruth at Yankee Stadium in a World War II fund-raising exhibition game in 1942.
Robert J. Balthazar, 78, of Sautee, Georgia was 15 years old when he attended that game, obtained the ball and got it autographed by Ruth and two other Hall of Fame members, pitcher Walter "Big Train" Johnson and umpire Billy Evans.
He kept the ball in a sock drawer wrapped in a glove for over a half century, and now it will be offered in a sports memorabilia auction conducted by Memory Lane, Inc. of Tustin, California (www.MemoryLaneInc.com). The proceeds will used by Balthazar's grandson, Joey Buck, to pay his student loans at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.
A former New Yorker, Balthazar and his father went to see the Yankees play the Washington Senators at Yankee Stadium on August 23, 1942. In between the double header there was an exhibition game to raise money for the Army-Navy Relief Fund, and Walter Johnson pitched against Babe Ruth.
Ruth hit his last home run at Yankee Stadium that day, and the ball landed near Balthazar's father, Irving, who then gave it to him. It was signed after the game by three Hall of Fame members: Ruth, Johnson and umpire Evans.
The autographs recently were certified genuine by Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA/DNA).
Ruth had retired from playing baseball seven years before that 1942 exhibition game. His home run electrified the crowd of more than 69,000 fans at Yankee Stadium.
A headline in the August 24, 1942 edition of the New York Post read: "Babe Ruth Never Was One To Disappoint His Public." The same day the New York World-Telegram newspaper declared in a headline: "Babe Still Hero To Delighted Crowd -- And To Present Yankees."
Additional information about the historic baseball can be found online at www.MemoryLaneInc.com. Phone: (877) 606-5283.
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More variety from PRWeb. This selection from March 27 interests me because the Babe played for the Red Sox, my home team, and I learn something every day (about search engine marketing, green builders, etc.) from the pages of the
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