Treasure Hunt

Sports keepsake to hit Roadshow

Cheryl-Anne Millsap

Spokane resident Bill Bennett's great-great aunt had this ball signed by members of the 1931 New York Yankees. (Ingrid Barrentine/The Spokesman-Review) Ready for the show Last winter, when the city got notice that Spokane would be one of the stops for the 2007 Antiques Roadshow tour, there was quite a buzz. In the last six months the excitement hasn't waned. The buzz, in fact, has just gotten louder. Spokane is ready for the show. Thousands of lucky ticket holders are getting their treasures out of storage or off the shelf and are headed to town. Rooms have been booked and dinner reservations have been made. Everybody is in a party mood. When I asked Treasure Hunt readers to tell me about their Roadshow contenders, the response was amazing. Dozens of phone calls and e-mails and letters followed. The last few weeks we've been profiling Roadshow hopefuls. And in the weeks to follow we'll be bringing you more. We'll introduce you to people in the community who made the trip downtown and showed their treasures to the professionals. We'll share good news and the cold hard facts. We'll even talk to a few who didn't get a shot at television but still have a story to tell. And, when the show airs on KSPS in 2008, we'll follow along. Antique silver, old gold and vintage goodies aren't the only things that will sparkle when the Roadshow pulls into town. Spokane is going to bask in the spotlight, as well. This Saturday, we'll all shine.

It's a sure thing that whole a lot of treasures will be taken to the Spokane Convention Center this Saturday to be evaluated by appraisers for the Antiques Roadshow. Family heirlooms and garage sale finds alike will paint a picture of popular culture.

But one Spokane man is hoping to hit a home run.

Bill Bennett has a handful of Americana.

On March 21, 1931, Bennet's great-great Aunt Minnie, returning to Ohio from a vacation in Florida, stopped by Miller Huggins Field in St. Petersburg where New York Yankees baseball greats like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were warming up during spring training.

Family lore has it that Minnie marched up to the Babe and asked the team to sign a baseball for her. They complied.

The baseball, tattooed with a who's who of future baseball Hall of Fame signatures, was eventually passed down – personally escorted by a relative – to Bennet's father, who now lives in Portland. When Bennet heard that the Antiques Roadshow was making a stop in Spokane, he applied for tickets and won a pair. The ball was brought out of safe keeping.

Bennett doesn't just have a one-of-a-kind baseball. He's also got a handwritten list of the players who signed – Aunt Minnie made careful notes – plus the original box in which the baseball was packaged.

To top it all, he's got a photo of Aunt Minnie standing beside Ruth.

"When you look at the signatures on the ball, and you think about the careers of the men who signed it, you know this is something special," Bennett said. "It's a real piece of history."