Images(7)

Baseball

Object number2012.86.2

Date1935

Mediumleather; nylon; ink

Credit LineIn rememberence of Bernard & Marguerite Singer by their goddaughter Katherine Crider. Bernard is the younger brother of Norman Singer

DescriptionStandard baseball with red stitches. Autographed in black in throughout ball are names of the 1935 Pittsburgh Pirates.Dimensions9.25 in. (23.5 cm)
InscriptionsAutographed in black in throughout ball are names of the 1935 Pittsburgh Pirates; autographs that can be deciphered include "Honus Wagner"; "Lloyd Waner"; and "Hal Smith".
MarksManufacturer's's mark on sweet spot: "Official / National League / ... Frick[?]..." and patent stamp.
Historical NotesA 1935 Pirates team signed baseball. Norman L. Singer was a junior at East McKeesport High School when he punctured his lung during a football game. He contracted tuberculosis and was bedridden. The avid sports fan’s mother wrote to Babe Ruth in 1935 when Ruth was in Pittsburgh (where he would hit his last three home runs), and Ruth signed a ball and had it delivered that morning before his afternoon game (2012.86.1). Bill Benswanger also sent a ball signed by the Pirates team (2012.86.2). Norman died five years later in 1940. His younger brother Bernard (Bernie) Singer inherited the ball and scrapbooks. As an industrial arts teacher at Canon-McMillan High School he befriended the donor Vincent Crider, eventually becoming Godparent to his child Katherine. He gifted the baseballs and other materials to Katherine who has now donated them to the museum with her parents.

Previous owner Norman L. Singer (died 1940)

Related person Ralph Joseph Birkofer (1908 - 1971)

Related person Harold Wayne Smith

Related person James Dement Weaver (1903 - 1983)

Related person Charles Fred Lucas (1902 - 1986)

Related person Harold Joseph Traynor (1898 - 1972)

Related person Wilbur Lee Brubaker (1910 - 1978)

Related person Darrell Elijah Blanton (1908 - 1945)

Related person William Vincent Swift (1908 - 1969)

Related person Lemuel Floyd Young (1907 - 1962)

Related person Robert Earl Grace (1907 - 1980)

Related person Thomas Francis Padden (1908 - 1973)