BIG LEAGUE BASEBALLS.com | MUSEUM OF BASEBALLS | MISCELLANEOUS, MISPRINTS & PROTOTYPES | Rawlings American Leauge MacPhail Pastime Collection
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About the Ball: Not an actual game ball, but a reproduction from Rawlings from the collectors' series of reprints called the "Pastime Collection." Apparently this series included a ball from former league presidents. Legend has it, reports of forged signatures began turning up on these Pastime baseballs; deceptive sellers had little trouble passing off these baseballs as originals. In turn, Rawlings scrapped the entire collection and torched the remaining stock. Consider these scarce, possibly more so than the originals they meant to represent?
Note: An easy way to spot a Pastime Collection ball, from our experience: The "Cushioned Cork Center" text is a much smaller typeset AND, there's no manufacturer's country of origin stamp (it should be Haiti in this case) under the Rawlings logo. Not sure if these tips will help on Pastime baseballs. Do you know? Do you have photos to share for comparison's sake?
An additional note - that smaller font on the lower panel isn't always a foolproof method for determining the difference on Pastime Collection balls. It's been noted that there are several varieties of AL and NL balls from the 1980s-90s with minor print alterations - such as smaller type fonts on the lower panel.
Note: An easy way to spot a Pastime Collection ball, from our experience: The "Cushioned Cork Center" text is a much smaller typeset AND, there's no manufacturer's country of origin stamp (it should be Haiti in this case) under the Rawlings logo. Not sure if these tips will help on Pastime baseballs. Do you know? Do you have photos to share for comparison's sake?
An additional note - that smaller font on the lower panel isn't always a foolproof method for determining the difference on Pastime Collection balls. It's been noted that there are several varieties of AL and NL balls from the 1980s-90s with minor print alterations - such as smaller type fonts on the lower panel.
