Years ago when I got back into collecting autographed balls I was all over the place in what I wanted to acquire and what price I should or shouldn't pay for said autographs. Maury happened to be one of the first I purchased. Maury spent the bulk of his career as a Dodger with a pit stop in Pittsburgh and Montreal until coming back and retiring as a Dodger in 1972. He was the Dee Gordon speed of his day with more plate discipline and actual offense contributions. At the end of his career he ended up with multiple achievements which included being a 3x World Series champion, 7x All Star, having over 2000 hits and a MVP to boot. A fine career anyway you cut it. It's more impressive considering he didn't even debut in the big leagues until he was 27. When he retired he tried his hand in managing but it didn't end up well but thankfully in 2009 he came back home to the Dodgers and has been with them since as a coach in one form or another.
When I went looking on eBay for autographed balls the one thing I knew to look for was the PSA authenticated versions but price was all over the place. One thing that had me zero in on this one was that unlike most versions I saw this one included his middle name which I think is unique and wanted to get it. Being at least 5 years I ago I don't remember the exact cost I paid but I do know it was less than $35 as that was my limit back then. So I know I paid at least $25 but no more than $35. Now granted Maury signs for free every other month or so it seems ( though I still haven't gone to one my self ) but at the time of this transaction I hadn't gone to many public signings yet so in my eyes this was good bang for my buck. One of these days I will go get a "free" autograph of Maury but until then this is a very nice piece in my Dodger collection.
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