A baseball signed by Babe Ruth and Al Capone, two of the most captivating figures of the 1920’s and '30's, is being sold on www.milehighcardco.com.
The most recent bid was $33,506, but Mile High Card Co. believes the ball could garner as much as $200,000 before the live auction ends on Jan. 31.
MHCC President Brian Drent recently told the Chicago Sun Times. “His signature is very difficult to find. He avoided signing. We've never seen another Capone autograph on a baseball, let alone along with Babe Ruth.”
The ball was consigned to the auction house by Pete Collins, the grandson of New York Yankees pitcher Herb Pennock and Philadelphia A's second baseman Eddie Collins.
In 1931, Pennock asked Capone to sign the ball during one of eleven meetings between the Yankees and White Sox at Comiskey Stadium on Chicago’s south side. Eventually Ruth, his teammate, signed the same ball.
Yankees skipper Joe McCarthy reportedly scolded his star lefty for associating with the reputed gangster. Later that season, Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Landis famously reprimanded Cubs catcher Gabby Hartnett for being photographed signing a ball for Capone's son at a charity game.
Capone regularly attended sporting events, and Babe Ruth was one of his favorite athletes.
A week after the 1931 Fall Classic, Capone was sentenced to eleven years in prison for federal income tax evasion. He spent portions of his term at Atlanta, Alcatraz, Terminal Island and Lewisburg prior to his release in 1939.
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