For decades, Robert Balthazar kept a baseball wrapped in a glove tucked away in a drawer. The glove was his from childhood when he was a die-hard baseball fan in Rego Park, N.Y. The ball carried the signature of the greatest player of all time, Babe Ruth.
In August 1942, a young Balthazar and his father saw the New York Yankees play the Washington Senators at Yankee Stadium. An exhibition game was held between games of a doubleheader to raise money for the Army-Navy Relief Fund. Before about 70,000 fans, Ruth hit a home-run. Balthazar's father retrieved the ball and a family friend was able to get it signed by Babe, pitcher Walter "Big Train" Johnson, who threw the home run pitch, and umpire Billy Evans.
In March 2006, then 78, Mr. Balthazar put the ball up for bid in an online auction handled by Memory Lane, Inc. of Tustin, Calif. A big-time Yankees' fan paid nearly $90,000 for it. Proceeds were used to pay school loans for Mr. Balthazar's grandson, who was a student at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.
"It is an iconic piece and we always wish something like that could go in the Baseball Hall of Fame, where everyone can see it," said Daniel Wulkan, an auction director at Memory Lane. "Having a baseball that survived that many years, that is an artifact from the old Yankee Stadium and that was hit by a household name, that's such history."
In a 2006 Memory Lane video, Mr. Balthazar explained how he obtained what became the last home run ball hit by the Babe.
"It bounced just before us, over us and rattled around and everybody was scrambling for the ball and my dad came up with it," he said. "I hope the recipient cherishes the ball for as long as I have."
Robert Joseph Balthazar of White County's Sautee-Nacoochee community died Tuesday from complications of kidney failure at Habersham Medical Center. He was 82. A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. on Dec. 4 at A.S. Turner & Sons in Decatur, which is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Balthazar was born in Connecticut, but relocated with family to New York. He entered the Merchant Marine Academy after high school and served two years.
A lifelong student of baseball, Mr. Balthazar could easily recite games, players and stats. Until he sold the baseball, he had kept it wrapped in flannel linen to protect from scuff marks.
"Pretty amazing, isn't it?," said a daughter, Suzie McVaney of Greenwood Village, Colo. "We knew he had a ball signed by Babe Ruth and he'd give me a ball signed by Pete Rose."
In 1947, Mr. Balthazar began a decades-long sales career with Union Carbide Corp., which transferred him to Atlanta in the early 1960s. He retired at 62, but still worked as an independent contractor. He and Norma, his wife of 61 years, moved to White County in 2001.
Additional survivors include his wife, Norma Balthazar of Sautee-Nacoochee; three other daughters, Lorraine Buck of Monroe, La; Barbara Blazer of Decatur and Nancy Rudasill of Williamsburg, Va.; four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
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