Extraordinary Babe Ruth single-signed baseball dating from the early 1930s. Ruth has beautifully signed the Spalding "Babe Ruth Home Run Special" baseball across the sweet spot in blue fountain pen. The creamy background of the leather provides perfect contrast for the signature, which grades a strong 8/10. The ball is equally impressive. The only hint to its age is some slight toning and it remains in Excellent to Mint condition overall. This ball has an interesting history and is accompanied by a typed letter of provenance. Our consignor's father obtained this ball decades ago from a gentleman who met Ruth personally. According to the gentleman's written testimony, he received the ball as a child while attending a game with his father, who was an executive with Standard Oil. As he relates, many employees of Standard Oil and their families traveled to Boston as part of a company outing and were given box seats (he doesn't relate whether it was Fenway Park or Braves field). The highlight of the day was a personal meeting with Babe Ruth, who dutifully signed baseballs for each of the kids in the group. He also retained a panel of the original box, which is also included in the lot. While Babe Ruth single-signed balls are by no means rare, those of this quality are, and have always been considered one of the true "blue chip" pieces in the hobby. This is an exceptional Ruth ball in all respects and one that would be among the highlights of any advanced Babe Ruth or Hall of Fame single-signed ball collection. Full LOA from JSA. (Please Note: PSA also examined this ball and declined to issue an LOA.)