RARE Ted Williams World War 2 WW2 Team Signed Game Used Baseball PSA DNA COA

$3,595.50







1944-1945 Pensacola, Florida World War 2 U.S. Armed Services signed baseball.

To be sure, our industry enjoys a reservoir of Ted Williams "the retired-superstar" autographs. Not nearly as plentiful are Ted Williams "the active-player" autographs. Desperately rare, then, are Ted Williams "the WW II-Naval-aviator" autographs…but we’ve got one right now. It appears on the sweet spot of a GoldSmith "Official 97" baseball, along with 23 other autographs. Specifically, this ball’s signing traces to an all-star series that was played in the summer of 1944. It seems that the Navy saw fit to stimulate morale in that war era by staging a brief series of games contested between the Waldron Air Station (of Corpus Christi) and the Pensacola Naval Air Station. In the course of that tilt (just two games, we believe, and played in Florida), players from both squads paused to pen their identities to the surface of this ball. The medium is uniformly toned, but not to detract from the quality of the signatures. For the most part, these players were probably competent on the diamond, yet clearly they amounted to a supporting cast for the few famous participants. The star of this show was, of course, the young naval combat pilot, Ted Williams, and his autograph projects at a quality of "9" (appearing, as we reported, on the sweet spot, along with a certain "Bill Wagner.") Further research may divulge some welcomed surprises in this slate of autographs. But immediately, we note the pennings of Sam Chapman, Bob Kennedy, and Johnny Sain on the ball as well. Though Ted Williams was the arch celebrity in this gathering, Waldron’s Johnny Sain held him hitless in the first 9-inning game. Ted, by the way, never saw combat in WW II; his proven coordination and natural aptitude as a fighter pilot necessitated his retention at NAS as a flight instructor. This is a fabulous ball – one that mustn’t be ignored by the determined Ted Williams devotee. 

Ted was an extremely skilled fighter pilot for the Marines, he won many awards and this time in his life was precious to him. The offered ball, aside from its inherent scarcity, is neat as it bridges Ted Williams great contributions to World War Two along with his most historic baseball career. Full letter COA from PSA DNA. 

#9282763