Three years after retiring as a player and still in the hunt for a managerial position Babe Ruth was hired by the Brooklyn Dodgers to be the team’s first base coach. Hired as much for his gate attraction as his baseball acumen a big part of Ruth’s job was to take batting practice with the team prior to home games and put on his usual home run show for the fans and participate in various exhibition games. Barnstorming exhibition games during the regular season were common practice during the 1930s and on July 6th, 1938, Ruth and most of the Dodgers were in Syracuse, New York to play the minor league Syracuse Chiefs on a day named in his honor by the home team (Click Here). It was also the same day as the Major League All-Star Game. Of course having Ruth in town was a spectacular gate attraction for the local team and the Big Bam went one for three with a single during the game played in front of 11,000 people. More significantly he also took the time to sign this special “Souvenir” ball manufactured specifically for “Babe Ruth Day” which is printed on a sweet spot above the “July 6, 1938” date printed just below. Ruth put his distinct signature on this spectacular specimen on the opposite sweet spot in blue steel tip fountain pen grading a solid (“9”). Unused red and blue stitched souvenir ball contains only slight toning and remains in excellent condition and comes with JSA LOA certification #B64112

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