Likely secretarial signature of Babe Ruth but would appreciate confirmation

My Uncle sent me photos of a Babe Ruth baseball that his neighbor has. The woman, who is in her 80s, got the baseball from her father. Owning two Babe Ruth signatures myself and having been burned on a fake Lou Gehrig, I know enough to do my research, and my Uncle asked if I could help here.

Photos are provided, but I strongly suspect this is a secretarial signature. The giveaway is the "Sinclair Babe Ruth Baseball Contest" stamp on the ball, which appears to have been a weekly contest in partnership with Sinclair Oil, where 500 baseballs were given away weekly. Given the volume of baseballs, of course they were not signed by Babe Ruth, and the auction listings I've looked at seem to confirm this.

But, I promised my Uncle I'd go the extra mile, so I was just looking for someone to confirm my research. Not looking forward to telling my Uncle's neighbor that her father's prized possession was not signed by Babe Ruth, but could still be a few hundred dollars given its age and prominence, having been part of a Babe Ruth promotion.

I'm suspecting fake. Especially when you look at the R, doesn't look anything like real exemplars. Anyone care to confirm?

Thank you!

Tags: Babe Ruth, Baseball, Sinclair

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on July 2, 2022 at 8:50am

yes, those Sinclair signed baseballs were all secretarial

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on July 2, 2022 at 5:46pm

But as Terrier would agree, it still as a value of hundreds of dollars.

Very nice collectible.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on July 6, 2022 at 8:54am

Google "Sinclair Babe Ruth Baseball Contest" and you'll find a lot of examples of these being offered for sale as secretarials, usually priced under $500 last I looked.

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on July 6, 2022 at 3:43pm

I wouldn't mind owning one, Steve. Definitely a piece of history. Those are nice collectibles IMHO.

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on July 6, 2022 at 6:24pm

I owned one at one point. But it was sold to me as authentic. When I did the research I learned more about the contest and returned it. It’s definitely collectible. Kind of like Neil Aspinal Beatles.