Paul Foytack, Tracy Stallard & Jack Fisher Signed Baseball 1961 Roger Maris HR Pitchers – COA JSA

In reflecting on the campaign to break Babe Ruth’s single season home run record, Roger Maris declared, “As a ballplayer, I would be delighted to do it again. As an individual, I doubt if I could possibly go through it again.”

The 1961 season was a unique combination of angst and joy for Roger Maris. Although it was expected that teammate Mickey Mantle would be the player to eclipse Babe Ruth’s hallowed record of 60 home runs in a season, it turned out to be Maris who hammered 61 home runs to set the new mark. On October 1, 1961, in a game played against the Boston Red Sox, Roger Maris connected for his record setting 61st home run of the season. Tracy Stallard was the pitcher for the Red Sox.

Presented is a baseball signed by three key figures in the Maris chase.   The ball itself is an OAL (Budig) with toning from age. Each pitcher added an inscription of which number home run was hit off of him by Roger that season. Signers in blue ballpoint (“7-8”) include: Paul Foytack (1st HR on sweet spot), Tracy Stallard (61st HR) and Jack Fisher (60th HR).

Authentication: JSA Basic Cert & Sticker & Show Tickets

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.