July 8, 1968 -Red Sox- Ted Williams Signed Sports Illustrated Magazine – PSA/DNA

Sports Illustrated‘s cover for July 8, 1968 echoes clinical analyses we’ve seen elsewhere in Tony Gwynn, Nolan Ryan and Bob Feller. It’s a sequential imaging of baseball’s blueprint slugger, Ted Williams. When this SI issue was released, the Splinter had been in retirement for nearly a decade. Truth is, we’d bet he could still hit clean-up for any big league nine. The exceptional allure of this copy, however, is that Ted graciously (and conspicuously) signed it. It’s a felt tip autograph (dating much later than the release of the issue). Yet there are a couple subtleties in this piece worthy of mention. The publication itself remains in virtually unhandled condition – about NM with just a mildly inexact corner at the lower right. It’s tightly bound with an ideally fresh surface. Particularly rewarding is the expanse of the signature and that it’s perfectly oriented – precisely parallel to the bottom edge. And we estimate the quality of this signature about “strong 9”. No mailing label.

Authentication: PSA/DNA Auction House Letter