Overstock Auctions is hosting an auction of the Matchless Ball, the only surviving American League baseball used in the 1934 All-Star Game signed by all the American League team members who played and some who did not. With an estimated appraisal value of $1,500,000, it is signed by players including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and eleven other Hall-of-Fame legends.
The seller is Dan de la Torre, a semi-retired baseball author and collector from Pasco County, Florida. Bidding for the 10-day auction is starting at $250,000 with a reserve and will close on Friday, April 29.
Overstock Auctions employs a soft-close auctioning process, whereby the auction will automatically extend 10 minutes if a bid is made within the last 10 minutes of the auction closing. This extension process repeats itself as long as new bids continue to come in.
If the ball sells at or above the minimum estimated value of $500,000, de la Torre plans to donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale to HOSPICE, a national non-profit organization that provides care to the terminally ill and their families.
http://auctions.overstock.com
http://auctions.overstock.com/cgi-bin/auctions.cgi?PAGE=PRODDET&PRODUCTID=2707644
