ShareThisDear Babe: My dad, who is an Angels fan now, must have liked the Dodgers years ago. He has a ticket stub from Game 4 of the 1949 World Series. It's from Ebbets Field. -- Candace Browers, Moreno Valley, Calif.
Wait just a minute. Maybe he was a Yankees fan, who just happened to catch a Series game in Brooklyn. There's nothing special about Game 4, which the Yankees won 6-4 en route to Casey Stengel's first Series win. There were no homers.
"You're looking at (it being worth) between $100 and $200, depending on condition,'' said Chris Nerat, a consignment director for Heritage Auctions (www.ha.com).
Dear Babe: We have a couple of autographed prints. One print is entitled: "Thumbs Up _ Road to the Hall of Fame'' with a Pete Rose collage. It's autographed by Pete Rose in pencil with the number "4256'' below the autograph. Also, the name, Lewis Watkins, who I believe is the artist, is printed in pencil near the bottom. The second print is entitled "The End of an Era,'' as a commissioned tribute to the career of Ted Williams by the same artist. Again, the artist signs this collage in pencil. We're almost certain the artist wrote in blue felt pen across the left corner "Ted Williams 1936-1960.'' Williams did not sign his print, but there is a statement at the bottom of the poster that says he commissioned the artist to do the work. -- Greg and Roni Grandell, Cottonwood , Calif.
Methinks Rose put "4256,'' the number of hits he banged out to set the all-time record, after each signature. I doubt there are 4,256 signed prints out there.
"I think that the Rose sells for around $200 and the Williams unsigned is only around $100,'' said Mike Heffner, president of www.Lelands.com. The value for the Williams print would jump to around $500 if it were signed by the Hall of Famer. "These are today's retail values. The initial offering price on them may have been much more but I am not sure,'' Heffner said.
Watkins' standing in the artistic community could enhance the value as artwork as opposed to just being sports memorabilia.
Dear Babe: One of my students, whose father was the Japanese interpreter for the Mariners, went to spring training a few years ago. He gave me a ball signed by 10 players. -- K.R., Redmond, Wash.
That's certainly a nice gift -- a lot better than an apple. You'll need someone familiar with Seattle autographs to figure out all the names. It looks like Jeff Clement signed and put "64'' after his name. He was with the team in 2007 and 2008 and wore No. 9. If I were to guess, I'd say it was from spring training 2007 when Clement wore a high number before making the team. Others I can make out are Jarrod Washburn (56) and Kenji Johjima (2). I don't see anything that looks like Ichiro's signature or one from Felix Hernandez.
With just 10 signatures, it's not a team ball. Plus it appears to be lacking Ichiro and Hernandez. It might be worth $25-$50 to a die-hard Mariners fan, but it's probably going to be a tough sell.
(Send card questions to Babe Waxpak, PO Box 492397, Redding, CA 96049-2397 or e-mail babewaxpak(at)charter.net. If possible, include card number, year and brand or a photocopy. Please do not send cards. For Babe Waxpak's blog, see www.scrippsnews.com/waxpak. Babe Waxpak is a feature of The Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
