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Fox4KC: Baseball donated to Goodwill turns out to be a historic piece of memorabilia

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. -- A lot of donations come into the Goodwill in Blue Springs every day, including sports equipment, but one baseball was very special.

It looked old and a little dirty, but it was signed by some of the most well-known players in baseball history.

New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, former Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and Steve Balboni, who played for the Royals and the Yankees, all signed the baseball that was donated anonymously.

JSA Authentication verified the ball is the real deal -- and was likely signed in 1981.

The baseball is up for auction through Goodwill's website and the money will all go to the charity. The employee who found the baseball, Mark Sukra, almost couldn't believe what was in front of him.

"He almost cried," said Gary Raines, manager of E-Commerce at Goodwill. "We were pretty excited. We see a lot of neat things come through here. But this would be at the top of the list of something that is exciting."

Sukra said they needed to do a little detective work to figure out why Balboni’s signature was on a baseball with two iconic Yankees.

“A lot of people just don’t remember Balboni playing those few years with the Yankees and being on a couple of World Series teams there as well,” Sukra said.

Right now, the highest bid for the baseball is around $700.

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Dwaylan's Story

Dwaylan's Story

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