I give up on trying to keep autographed baseballs from being ruined.

[helf35]

These two balls were signed with the same pen about 20 seconds from each other, stored right next to each other and neither have been exposed to light since after they were signed. I do not get it! I have a closet full of guys that don't pan out and balls are flawless yet half of my Pujols collection bled on me. All my game used balls that are signed are fine. Why is it always the clean balls that go all turd on me? I have noticed balls I put in bags seem to do better then without but these were both stored the same in bags. Anyone out there that has had the opposite experience as me and found a way to keep all your balls from suffering this fate. I have a 3,000 square foot dehumidifier in the basement and a separate air conditioner in the summer that runs in my room where i keep everything. What else can I do?

[MercyMe78]

These two balls were signed with the same pen about 20 seconds from each other, stored right next to each other and neither have been exposed to light since after they were signed. I do not get it! I have a closet full of guys that don't pan out and balls are flawless yet half of my Pujols collection bled on me. All my game used balls that are signed are fine. Why is it always the clean balls that go all turd on me? I have noticed balls I put in bags seem to do better then without but these were both stored the same in bags. Anyone out there that has had the opposite experience as me and found a way to keep all your balls from suffering this fate. I have a 3,000 square foot dehumidifier in the basement and a separate air conditioner in the summer that runs in my room where i keep everything. What else can I do?

I'm going out on a limb here but it may have something to do with the leather of the baseball. I've had the same problem but one of the autographs started to fade compared to the other

[Hoosier39]

I'm going out on a limb here but it may have something to do with the leather of the baseball. I've had the same problem but one of the autographs started to fade compared to the other

Bingo!

[helf35]

I'm going out on a limb here but it may have something to do with the leather of the baseball. I've had the same problem but one of the autographs started to fade compared to the other

I have about 5 or 6 that have almost completely faded, within a couple years they are going into my sons bp collection for when he gets into middle school he will have about 2 dozen balls to hit for home run derby in the park with his buddies.

[danesei@yahoo.com]

There are several considerations at work here:

1) Clean balls v game used balls. Game used balls would be scuffed up, so the leather surface treatment, that might cause ink to bleed/run, would be less likely to interact with the ink. Since the ink is going directly into the leather, in effect, it stains the leather more efficiently, thereby holding the ink without bleed.

2) Aging of balls and disappearing ink. Leather will absorb ink over time. This is why authenticators will fail balls that are supposedly vintage signed as forgeries. Freshly signed balls will have an appearance where the ink is still on the surface of the ball. Aged balls, where the ink has had time to be absorbed into the leather, will have a look where the ink is a part of the ball itself. This absorption is also why older balls have faded signatures.

3) Different types of balls. Some balls (notably OMLB/OAL/ONL) will use better grade leather for their outer shell/surface. Sometimes, these leathers have a different degree of porosity, which allows ink to adhere to the surface of the ball better. This is why you'll notice a lot of "Official Ball" signatures have that odd instafade (faded within a couple years) effect.

[Chess2899]

I still do well with the old blue Bic pens. Some of the newer pens have the wrong type of ink that will bleed. Black ink also bleeds over time.

You can always gp the way of the Babe Ruth fountain pens which seems to keep their luster after 80 years.