(Possible) Tale of Shame: Cut Signatures of the 1927 Yankees

A historic first-time idea for a card left to nothing more than a bitter taste in the mouth. A fresh bloom shriveling into dust before its time has come. The tepid taste of swamp water.

The imagery may be a bit much, but the initial excitement of the pull of the 1927 Yankees lineup cut signature card has been severely tempered.

Since the card was pulled and issued out on auction, the allegations are clearly discussed here at haulsofshame.com.

Here's the prime passage.

-Babe Ruth forgeries are everywhere…..Sports Collectors Daily just advertised an embarassingly fake Ruth signature on a “2010 Topps Tribute” card, and alleges it features authentic signatures of the 1927 Yankees. Here’s the article: http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/1927-yankees-topps-tribute-card-pulled-consigned/ Billed as a “1-1 Legendary Lineups autograph book card,” the Topps product features horrible forgeries of both Ruth and Gehrig. Who authenticated this one? The experts we spoke to deemed them poorly executed forgeries. The card is being offered on EBAY by Beckett Select Auctions with a minimum bid of $20,000.

-A comment by Richard Simon on Net54 sums up the cut signature fiasco best. He said: “If Upper Deck can be stupid enough to use multiple forgeries in their cards, why can’t Topps be stupid too?”

For my part, I am not an expert and unable to distinguish a fake Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig signature from an authentic one. However, if it turns out that these signatures on this "epic" card are forgeries, it is a major black eye for the industry and the one remaining licensed company by MLB (Topps). Upper Deck underwent a similar situation a couple of years ago and the embarrassment probably still stings more than anything else.

How can we as collectors trust that what we receive is authentic when they are not duly certified and verified by the manufacturers themselves? Enough care was given to make this card a redemption to not be restricted by pack-out schedules. Unfortunately, either Topps didn't do their due diligence or their authentication party and/or source did a disreputable job.

At the end of the day, it's collectors who are disheartened and bound to think twice about what comes out of a pack.