Abaseball autographed by Pope Francis will be auctioned off to the highest bidder following his death and could sell for more than five figures.
The late pontiff signed a baseball several years ago, scrawling his name “Francis” in black marker on a Rawlings MLB ball… and now that he has passed away, the souvenir is hitting the market.
The ball will be sold through the auction house RR Auction, where it is expected to fetch at least $15,000.
Pope Francis was unique like his actions
Randy L. Kaplan, a New York-based government affairs specialist, got the autographed ball after working with the Vatican to have Francis and Pope Benedict XVI leave their John Hancocks on the baseballs.
Randy has been collecting Major League Baseballs signed by world leaders and heads of state since 1996, starting with Bill Clinton… and claims to have more than 450 in his collection.
The auction house informs us that the winner will also receive Kaplan’s correspondence with Vatican officials about his efforts to get Francis and Benedict XVI to sign.
One of the letters is from Cardinal Peter K. A. Turkson and reads, in part: “Unfortunately, I opened the boxes with the balls before reading your message. Not knowing they were yours, I signed them before reading your letter with instructions for the Popes to sign the two balls. Please excuse the oversight; if you have other balls, please send them.”
With exclusive information from TZN.
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