Durwood Merrill LOA

[sylbry]

I once questioned the LOA's provided by Durwood Merrill.

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=10008&highlight=merrill

Another Durwood Merrill ball appeared on ebay. This one is way too hard to believe. Compare the faded Nolan Ryan signature with what looks like a freshly written inscription. Remember Durwood died in 2003.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=370037591749&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=024

And like the other Merrill balls, Durwood was no where near the game as he was working a game in Oakland that day.

[David]

I have no opinion on the authenticity of the item, but it appears that Merrill was a collector like many of us. I was reading a different Merrill LOA and he said he got a ball from a fellow umpire and did not make claim that he was in person at the event. I don't believe Merrill, if he were alive, would claim everything in his collection was obtained directly by him at a specific event, but that it was gathered by an umpire who was around the game a long time and knew lots of MLB people.

[David]

I'm curious if umpires used to trade items-- game used balls, etc. If an ump had 10 balls from one game, if he would trade a couple with an umpire who had balls from a different game. Presumably, umpires are clubby and know each other well, and I would not be surprised if trading or selling between umpires was common.

[mattmueller]

As former umpire great Ron Luciano said in one of his books, people will do weird things for balls used in an official MLB game, or at least bouced on the cement floor of an official MLB umpire's locker room.....

[byergo]

The item and LOA look great to me. It's obvious there were two different pens used with different inks which would explain the different resulting look. These Merrill LOA's pop up pretty infrequently as well, first one I've seen in a long time, and I'm only aware of a few period. Not like some of the comonly forged LOA's we all know about. Thinking that Merrill had to ump the game for every item in his collection is absurd.

[sylbry]

One more.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NOLAN-RYAN-GAME-USED-6th-NO-HITTER-BALL-UMPIRE-COA_W0QQitemZ260219378224QQihZ016QQcategoryZ73418Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[byergo]

That makes a grand total of 5 items I've ever seen with Durwood's LOA. His collection was quite large, so there must be many more items out there. They must be in the hands of strong collections that don't sell very often.

[sylbry]

They must be in the hands of strong collections that don't sell very often.

That's one assumption. Sort of like assuming an LOA from someone is authentication for a ball that happened at a completely different game. Relying solely on the fact that he was employed by MLB as reason why he "could" have ended up with an item, nevermind the fact he didn't see it in use, being collected, or not knowing how many times it exchanged hands prior to said ball coming to rest in his collection.

I mean it is said to be a game used ball, the easiest thing in the world to fake. And the faded signature with the seemingly freshly written inscription on a ball said to have come from a collection of a guy that died 5 years ago is quite a red flag.

[vintagebb]

I pass no judgement on letters and their writers however I was under the impression that Bobby Brown baseballs that do not list a country (either Haiti or Costa Rica) were NOT manufactured until at least 1992...

[dcgreg25]

Looks like the Nolan Ryan ball has resurfaced in the Vintage Authentics Auction.

http://www.vintageauthentics.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=100039695&prmenbr=57735959&aunbr=100386405

Anybody know what it sold for on ebay earlier this year? It should be interesting to see what it goes for this time.

[jwasserman]

There was a handful of Durwood baseballs on Ebay not too long ago- a Reggie Jackson and Griffey home run, Dwight Gooden no hitter, and a few others. I posted a thread on them: http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=17182&highlight=reggie

In my opinion none of them were good. If you read the thread, someone else posted a link to another Nolan Ryan Durwood ball (from his 300th win) that looked nothing like the ones on Ebay. I think that one might be a legit ball from the ump and would make a good point of comparison.

[David Murphy collector]

Hey guys. I just ran across this post and thought I'd chime in. I once liver two streets over from Durwood when he lived in New Boston Texas. He had a restaurant there in town and he had TONS of game used and worn items. There were things in there that would blow your mind! At the time, I was a big Nolan Ryan collector and knowing that Durwood and Nolan were close friends, I asked him if he had any Ryan items he would be willing to sell. Much to my surprise, he said yes and even invited me to his house.
I spent about an there as we talked baseball and he showed me a lot of the items he had from his career. He had so much stuff that the majority of it was thrown in closets and piled to the ceiling! As far as the LOA's judging from the one he gave me and from the things he told me, if he didn't get it directly from a player, he had very reliable people ( mostly other umpires) in which he obtained his items from. I would trust any item associated with him or hat cam from him. As far as re different colored inks on one ball, yes it is very east to forge something and it may look suspicious, but he showed many baseballs and told many storied about them and some of them had different colored inks on them. Some were inscribed by him then later signed by the player or vice versa. Its been my experience that different kinds of inks fade/age differently from others and I don't think he had any reason to lie about any of that.
Unfortunately he passed away just one week before I was to meet with him again to talk baseball and possibly purchase more items. He was a great guy and I'd trust anything with his LOA attached to it.

[nycpropain]

. He was a great guy and I'd trust anything with his LOA attached to it.

And what exactly is stopping someone from reprinting a COA and putting it with an fake item? I dont see anything stopping it so unlke you I wouldnt trust everything with his LOA.

[sox83cubs84]

I pass no judgement on letters and their writers however I was under the impression that Bobby Brown baseballs that do not list a country (either Haiti or Costa Rica) were NOT manufactured until at least 1992...

1992 or 1993...the same goes for Bill White NL baseballs.

Dave Miedema