Found: Bill Mazeroski's 1960 World Series Home run baseball?

[karamaxjoe]

Jason,
My opinion is it's impossible to authenticate your ball as the Maz ball. Even though you have a nice story and a ball that matches up with the era, you're going to need someone such as Mazeroski, the ump or an official with the team to corroborate the story. If the story is true then the previous owner was at fault for not puting his face in front of a camera right after the series. If I'm correct a fan named Sal Durant caught Maris's 61 ball and was a celebrity for a few days. You would need something like that to help authenticate the ball. Without it you have a nice ball and a good story, but no historical ball.

Mike

[karamaxjoe]

Jason,
I Googled Mazeroski and found this story on a couple websites. Who knows if it's true, but it doesn't help the validity of your ball.

Maz's ninth-inning homer gives Pirates Game 7 Series win


By BRUCE LOWITT
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 3, 1999
The grainy black-and-white movie shows leftfielder Yogi Berra slowing to a halt, looking up at Forbes Field's ivy-covered wall, waiting for the ball to bounce back to him, waiting to hold Bill Mazeroski to a double. Maybe even to a single.
The ball never bounced back.
By the time it landed just beyond the left-centerfield wall in a vacant lot adjoining Schenley Park, the Pittsburgh Pirates were baseball's 1960 champions, 10-9 winners over the New York Yankees in the seventh game of the first World Series to be decided by a home run.
"I can't believe it," Berra said. Teammate Dale Long chimed in: "I'll never believe it."
The home run came on Ralph Terry's second pitch in the ninth. Mazeroski all but flew around the bases, cap in hand, arms waving, celebrating the Pirates' first world championship in 35 years.
The victory helped dim some Pirates fans' memories of the previous New York-Pittsburgh World Series, a four-game sweep by baseball's best team ever, the 1927 Yankees.
And one could say Mazeroski's home run also was a thank you of sorts for manager Danny Murtaugh, who introduced Mazeroski to his wife, the former Milene Nicholson, one of the Pirates' front-office employees.
It was fitting the Pirates won on a homer. The Yankees out-homered them 10-4 and outscored them 55-27.
New York's powerful bats pounded Pittsburgh into submission in three of the first six games by scores of 16-3, 10-0 and 12-0. But margin means nothing, only the number of victories, and the Pirates scratched out 6-4, 3-2 and 5-2 wins preceding Game7.
Pittsburgh took a 4-0 lead in the give-and-take seventh game on Rocky Nelson's two-run homer in the first inning and Bill Virdon's two-run single in the second. Moose Skowron homered for the Yanks in the fifth, and New York added four runs in the sixth, three on a Berra homer. When the Yanks scored twice in the eighth to lead 7-4, they appeared on the verge of winning their 19th World Series and manager Casey Stengel's eighth.
But the biggest events can turn on the tiniest things, in this case a pebble and a momentary lapse.
With Gino Cimoli on first for the Pirates in the eighth, Virdon hit what appeared to be a routine double-play grounder at Tony Kubek. But the ball hit a pebble and took a high hop, striking the Yankees shortstop in the throat. It sent him sprawling -- and to the hospital with a bruised larynx.
Virdon was safe at first.
The Pirates exploited the opportunity. Dick Groat hit a run-scoring single and, two outs later, Roberto Clemente hit a weak grounder toward Skowron, playing deep behind first base. But pitcher Jim Coates didn't cover first. Skowron had to hold the ball. Clemente was safe, Virdon scored, Groat went to third -- and the next batter, Hal Smith, slammed a home run over the leftfield wall.
Terry got the final out in the eighth. The Yankees tied it at 9 with two runs in the ninth, then Terry served up the gopher ball to Mazeroski.
Mazeroski said it was a high fastball. Terry, asked to confirm that, replied morosely: "I don't know what the pitch was. All I know is it was the wrong one." Andy Jerpe, 14, of Pittsburgh retrieved the ball and brought it to the Pirates' locker room to present it to Mazeroski. Mazeroski autographed it and returned it to the boy, saying: "You keep it, son. The memory is good enough for me."

[Ripken]

The name Andy Jerpe doesn't yield any other results in a Google search. A search of phone #s doesn't show his name either. He'd be 60 or 61 today. That would be one place to start looking. I'd also talk to anyone at the sale where you bought the ball (neighbors, etc) to find out what they know about the actual history of the ball. Looks like it was handled quite a bit over the years.

[JCC1968]

Guys

Thanks for your help! If we can get this authenticated and someday when I sell it I will cut you in for a percentage! I am having the ball signed by Mr. Mazeroski in May. He is going to look at the ball as well and give his opinion on it. Also would like to get Mr.Terry to sign it as well. No one knows anything about this possible piece of baseball history and I would love to prove it. I wish someone was still alive to help us.


Jason

[CollectGU]

I'm curious. How will having him look at the ball prove anything? It seems to me that you need to trace this ball back to Andy Jerpe or one of his family members for this to have any value.

Regards,

Dave

[karamaxjoe]

The one thing that doesn't add up is the newspaper article claims Maz signed the ball and gave it back to the kid. Jason's ball does not have a Maz signature.

Mike

[JCC1968]

Guys

The Hall of Fame has no record of anything signed on the Mazeroski baseball. Nothing has been proven either way. It is all hear say at this point. I am hoping maybe Mazeroski can clear up if he did or did not sign the baseball in May.

Jason

[bobw]

Found this AP article on Newspaper archive from the Syracuse Post Standard from October 14, 1960

Maz Returns Home Run Ball To Youngster

PITTSBURGH (AP)-The home run ball which beat the New York Yankees 10-9 Thursday for the 1960 World Series title becomes the souvenir of a 14-year-old Pittsburgh schoolboy. Andy Jerpe was waiting in a vacant lot outside Forbes Field and retrieved the ball which Bill Mazeroski hit over the left center field fence for the deciding run. Later the boy brought the ball to the Pittsburgh dressing room
to present it to the Pirate second baseman. Mazeroski autographed it and turned it back to the boy. "You keep it, son," Mazeroski said. "The memory is good enough for me.

[CollectGU]

Unfortunately, I think these two stories corrobrate that it was signed by him and pretty much kills this ball as being the one....Other's agree?

Dave