Welcome to Lelands - Sports Memorabilia and Card Auctions

Lot # 352: Historically Significant 1929 Bing Miller Single-Signed "Trophy" Baseball Thrown from a Goodyear Blimp

Starting Bid: $500.00

Bids: 3 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Spring Classic 2020",
which ran from 5/17/2020 7:00 PM to
6/19/2020 11:00 PM



Interesting and unusual baseball caught by Bing Miller that was thrown from a Goodyear blimp on June 26th 1929. The ball is an Official American League (Barnard) baseball and is generously shellacked. It was signed by Miller with the inscription "Caught by Bing Miller Philadelphia Athletics June 26, 1929 from a Goodyear Dirigible." The ball shows good use and displays nicely. Excerpt from Iowa Baseball Greats: Sixteen Major Leaguers Who Were in the Game for Life states how baseball players were attempting to catch baseballs from extreme heights: "In the early part of the 20th century, it was all the rage for major league baseball players to attempt to catch a ball dropped from a great height. St. Louis Cardinals manager Gabby Street caught a ball dropped from the top of the Washington Monument. Babe Ruth caught a ball thrown from a moving airplane. Brooklyn Dodgers player-manager Wilbert Robinson tried the same thing only to have the female pilot, discovering she did not have a baseball, throw him a grapefruit instead." The book then goes to talk about Bing Miller catching this EXACT baseball!! Reads: "In the middle of the 1929 season, Philadelphia Athletics outfielder Bing Miller took his shot. Standing in the middle of Philadelphia's Shibe Park, three balls were dropped one at a time from the Goodyear blimp Mayflower, hovering 600 feet above. The sure-handed Miller caught the first one. He managed to snag the second one. The third one knocked him to the ground."

Views: 530