Ruth signature along with promoter Herb Hunter known as "Baseball's Ambassador to the Orient" from a 1933 Barnstorming tour in Hawaii, on a Japanese (Mizuno) Official University League ball with tan and black stitching, JSA Cert# XX86619

Provenance: Descended through the family of Japanese baseball pioneer, Steere Gikaku Noda

Note: Noda was born in Oahu, Hawaii. As a thirteen-year-old in 1905, he organized a sandlot baseball team in Honolulu called Asahi, a Japanese word that means morning or rising sun. He served as treasurer, manager and captain of the team, as well as a top pitcher and hitter.

From humble beginnings, Asahi emerged as the New York Yankees of Hawaiian baseball, winning 23 championships, including 17 after joining the Hawaii Baseball League in 1924. More importantly, the team, comprised of players with Japanese ancestry, became a traveling ambassador for Hawaiian baseball, making trips to Japan and the Philippines and becoming the first American team to play in Taiwan.