OK, I have more information. I have the cert here, and the ball.
There is a serial number on a sticker on the ball. Z17939. There is also a hologram sticker, number B105580
On the cert:
Submission number: 156516
Date: Monday, May 22, 2017
Subject: Sandy Koufax
Field: Baseball
Description: Signed Baseball
Manufacturer: Rawlings (Haiti)
Type: Official National League
Era: 1989-90
Model: RO-N
Stitching: Red
President: William D. White
Number of Signatures: 1
Location: SS
Writing Implement: Ballpoint Pen
Color: Blue
What do you think?
@Cyber Liberty A Koufax-signed ball from when Bill White was president of the National League?
Cherish it!You even
think about selling it and I'll clobber you myself! ;)
I've read that Koufax has a small collection of vintage National League balls he signs
partly for memorabilia shows and mostly to give to friends or special acquaintances.
I know of two such classics:
1) When Jane Leavy was working on her biography of Koufax (it's the best one you'll
ever read), Koufax gave her access and struck a friendship with her even though he didn't
cooperate actively in the writing of the book. (He lovingly came to refer to her as "his
C.P.A.---certified pain in the ass.") During that time, Leavy made Koufax aware of
then-U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky's poem "Night Game," which was largely about
Whitey Ford, his youthful idol, but also punch-lined it with Koufax and his refusal
to pitch Game One of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur. Koufax
was impressed with the poem, and Leavy told him Pinsky had once asked Ford for
an autograph after seeing Ford pitch at Fort Monmouth, when Ford was in the Army,
and Ford had refused without an explanation, which kind of disillusioned Pinsky
a bit.
"Do you think he'd like a ball?" Koufax asked Leavy. Told yes, Koufax sent Pinsky
an autographed ball and attached a note to the ball that said, "Whitey's really a
good guy."
As it happened, Leavy had become friendly with Ford, too (she was also researching
her remarkable bio of Mickey Mantle), and mentioned "Night Game" to him, as well,
including things Pinsky told Leavy personally about Koufax. Ford in turn was
impressed: "He said nice things about Sandy? That's wonderful." It prompted Ford
to send Pinsky an autograph and an explanation for the ancient snub---soldiers
weren't permitted to sign autographs, and Ford was in no position to explain himself
to the kid at the time.
2) Nearing the 50th anniversary of his 1965 perfect game against the Cubs, Koufax
received an envelope from the son of Bob Hendley, the Cub pitcher who almost had
a no-hitter of his own on the backside of the perfecto. (The only Dodger run of the
game scored on a walk, a sacrifice, a stolen base, and a throwing error; the game's
lone hit was Lou Johnson's double in another inning, and he was stranded.) The
envelope contained an old clipping of the game. Koufax returned the favour by
autographing the clip for Hendley
fils and including a small handwritten note
saying, "Say hello to your father for me."
On THE anniversary, Bob Hendley was stunned to receive a package: a 1965
National League baseball, which Koufax inscribed,
WHAT A GAME!, and
he included a small handwritten note: "We had a moment, a night, a career. I hope
life has been kind to you. Sandy." To this day, whenever anyone asks Hendley how
he feels about having come up on the wrong side of Koufax's perfect game, especially
since he was so close to his own no-hitter, Hendley invariably replies, "It's no disgrace
to be beaten by class."
