1926-27 Vintage Ban Johnson Reach Official League Baseball AL President

Ban Johnson was an American executive in professional baseball who served as the founder and first president of the American League (AL). Johnson developed the AL—a descendant of the minor league Western League—into a “clean” alternative to the National League, which had become notorious for its rough-and-tumble atmosphere. To encourage a more orderly environment, Johnson strongly supported the new league’s umpires, which eventually included Hall of Famer Billy Evans.

Presented is a 1926-27 vintage Ban Johnson Reach Official League baseball. The ball shows aging/toning throughout. There’s also scuffing on the leather near the sweet spot as well as in spots. Note, it was dated by the words “American League Ball” on the sweetspot are now written in script on the 1927 baseball, and “The Cushioned Cork Center” replaces “The Cork Center” on south Specs panel.

This ball is from one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of autographed baseballs in the world. Altogether they were easily displayable in custom shelf form and alphabetically displayed nonetheless. The choice of medium was visually easy for the encyclopedic collector who put these together. It took several decades to amass these rare autographs of the most prominent entertainers, historical figures, and sports players.  It proved quite difficult to acquire autographs of non-ballplayers on such an odd object (a baseball) but diligence proved otherwise and that it’s possible. So, now with the collection complete and his shelves empty there’s only one thing left to do….bid on this item and start the challenge to see how far you can take it.