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Moonwalker Signed Baseballs

  1. AdamS Jul 12, 2019

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    In honor of the upcoming Apollo 11 anniversary, I thought I would share a photo that combines three of my interests.

    9 of the 12 moonwalkers represented here. Obviously missing number #1 Armstrong (Very difficult to find an authentic signed baseball), James Irwin and John Young.

    Shown here with a few Speedmastersto keep things watch relevant :)

    Baseballs Good5.jpg

    Baseballs Good3.jpeg
     
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  2. americanaut Jul 15, 2019

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    That's a very cool idea :thumbsup: Hope you get to complete it, one day...
     
  3. BlackTalon This Space for Rent Jul 15, 2019

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    What a great idea! Nice job collecting so many. It's a great spin on astronaut autographs
     
  4. AdamS Jul 15, 2019

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    Thanks! I feel confident about being able to get Irwin and Young one day, but I am not holding my breath for Armstrong (at least at a price I am willing to pay).
     
  5. Evitzee Jul 15, 2019

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    Have you actually seen baseballs by your missing trio? I wouldn't have thought that was a normal activity for an astronaut to do.....sign baseballs. Yeah, I suspect an Armstrong ball would be very, very pricey.

    Interesting collection.
     
  6. AdamS Jul 16, 2019

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    Surprisingly, in the US baseballs are actually one of the more common non-photo items to be signed by presidents, astronauts, entertainers, athletes, etc.

    I have seen one Armstrong baseball, but the price was crazy, and it wasn't a great example. Actually, Armstrong golf balls are much more common as he spent time on the links and seemed to be open to signing for fellow golfers.

    Young might be the most difficult to find as he preferred to sign NASA photos, so he is difficult to find on items like this.
     
  7. Walrus Jul 17, 2019

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    That is an amazing collection
     
  8. 8100_RPM Jul 17, 2019

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    Wow! That is an awesome collection of baseballs.Baseballs are not the easiest item to sign.

    Am I correct to assume that they are a mix of AL, NL and (post 1999) MLB baseballs?
     
  9. AdamS Jul 17, 2019

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    Good eye! Yes, all official MLB balls, mix of either National league, American League and some newer Selig balls.
     
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  10. Humptymarsbar Jul 18, 2019

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    Wasn't Alan Shepherds game golf?
    Nice collection.
     
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  11. krh7 Jul 18, 2019

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    this is great. how many of those did you get signed in person? or are they all secondary market purchases?
     
  12. clouds60 May 4, 2020

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    of the three missing Moonwalkers to complete this collection, Iriwn is actually rarer than Armstrong to acquire on a single signed baseball ( I have owned one such baseball and am aware of another collector having a single signed Irwin), I was able to acquire a John Young signed baseball when he did private signings with Novaspace in Tuscon Az (but that was several years ago) and Armstrong was a notorious non-signer of anything let alone baseballs and the few signed baseballs which existed were from a much earlier time period (before mid 1990s) and as pointed out would be very expense to procure (assuming an authentic signed baseball). Of the 24 astronauts who flew to the moon, about half of them are very difficult to acquire on signed baseballs with some astronauts like Michael Collins nearly impossible to find an authentic single signed ball (he refused to sign for me over two decade of asking during his private signings with Novaspace). I did meet Amstrong in person and asked if he would ever sign the Moonwalkers lithograph (the 11 other Moonwalkers all signed over a period of 20 years as done with Novaspace) and his icy glare towards me was something I will never forget. I also met Buzz Aldrin in person and asking him to sign a baseball is also extremely difficult and very very expensive if he does agree to do it for you at a book signing event. At least that was the case a few years back.
     
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  13. SpeedyPhill Founder Of Aussie Cricket Blog Mark Waugh Universe May 4, 2020

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    @Humptymarsbar
    In fact Golf became the sport of almost every astronaut, but Shepard played since the Mercury days...
    In 1968 Deke Slayton requested that he could play with other astronauts and approached Golf-pro Danny Lawler to give the Apollo astronauts some private lessons in the game of golf, a sport with many rules...
    In fact Danny Lawler was also a representative for the Alligator-log Lacoste shirts and that's how the Apollo astronauts ended up wearing Lacoste polo shirts.The story doesn't end there...
    On Apollo 14, Alan Shepard carried a make-shift Iron-6 attached to a geologic sample stick and hit two golf balls on the Moon...
    The make of the Golf balls was never revealed but the Golf stick sits in the museum of USGA in New Jersey - USA
    .
    Golf.jpg
     
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  14. americanaut May 5, 2020

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    Interesting information on here, greatly appreciated,
     
  15. SpeedyPhill Founder Of Aussie Cricket Blog Mark Waugh Universe May 5, 2020

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    :thumbsup:
    And that's only the beginning of the story... Amazing anecdotes on baseballs & golfballs...
    I guess Deke Slayton wanted the astronauts to learn golf with all the etiquette including a more friendly use of language...
    After all, being military testpilots, they would read this 008 not as Zero Zero Eight but rather as Balls Eight :D
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balls_8
     
  16. americanaut May 5, 2020

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    :thumbsup: This is getting better and better! Something new I just learned then.
     
  17. chichi May 5, 2020

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    beautiful. freaking amaz - i - balls

    other than keeping them out of direct sunlight is there anything else you can do to preserve the baseballs? I don't know? inert gases?
     
  18. clouds60 May 6, 2020

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    keep them in UV protected baseball display cases and avoid sunlight and if expensive keep safely locked away
     
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