Seth Swirsky's historic baseball memorabilia collection
The songwriter's incredible collection will appear at auction in May
Paul Fraser Collectibles,Wednesday 11 April2012
Seth Swirsky is a renowned American songwriter and performer, known for his work with artists such as Tina Turner, Al Green, the Four Tops and Celine Dion.
He is also a self-confessed baseball fanatic, and in addition to writing three successful books on the subject he has acquired one of the world's most impressive private collections of historic baseball memorabilia.
Many items from this collection are heading to auction in May, including some truly iconic pieces which are certain to attract attention from collectors around the world.
A childhood collector of Topps baseball cards, Swirsky began his memorabilia collection in earnest in 1994 with a 25th anniversary ball signed by the 1969 New York Mets.
He followed this up with a 1951 New York Yankees ball bearing the autographs of Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Whitey Ford, and the collection grew from there.
As of 2011, Swirsky's collection included around 1,000 balls along with a wealth of shirts, bats and autographs. Amongst these were iconic items such as the infamous 'Buckner Ball' which slipped through the legs of Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner to win game 6 of the 1986 World Series for the New York Mets, and the third home run ball hit by Reggie Jackson in game 6 of the 1977 World Series.
Reggie Jackson 1977 World Series home run ball and the infamous 'Buckner Ball'
Over the course of several years Swirsky picked up other notable pieces of baseball history including the letter written by Baseball commissioner Kenesaw 'Mountain' Landis which controversially banned Shoeless Joe Jackson from playing Major League baseball after scandal of the 1919 World Series.
He also picked up Tom Seaver's game-worn jersey from the 1969 World Series, a baseball signed by all four members of the Beatles shortly after their iconic performance at Shea Stadium and the only known surviving ball from Johnny Vander Meer's two historic consecutive no-hitters in 1938.
In a recent Sports Collector Digest article, Heritage Auctions' Sports Collectibles Director Chris Ivy said; "The collection covers many decades, many teams, many players, but there's a common theme that runs through it all. Every piece has a distinctly human element. It's no coincidence that Seth is an artist, a writer and musician. He's not a stats guy; he's a story guy."
Swirsky's collection will appear at auction in Dallas on May 3 - 5, and with the amazing items on offer it's certain that a few collectors will soon have their own stories to tell.
