NEW YORK — Two members of the Yankees’ Core Four are sharing space on another piece of baseball history.
A game-used baseball from the 2010 MLB All-Star Game signed by Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte has surfaced through Mynt Auctions, creating a collectible that connects two Yankees legends to one of the final All-Star appearances they made together.
The baseball carries both MLB and Steiner authentication, according to the auction listing.
The estimated price: $1,846 to $2,399.
The opening figure was $930.
For Yankees collectors, however, the attraction goes beyond two signatures on the same baseball.
The ball comes from an All-Star Game in which Jeter and Pettitte both represented New York less than a year after helping deliver the franchise’s 27th World Series championship.
Jeter and Pettitte signatures share game-used All-Star ball
The listing describes the baseball as an original game-used ball from the 2010 All-Star Game.
Jeter and Pettitte both signed it.
According to Mynt Auctions, an MLB Authentic hologram and a Steiner hologram are attached near the label. The auction house identifies the ball as pre-owned and game-used and lists Steiner Sports as the autograph authenticator.
That creates several layers of Yankees significance on one item.
Jeter and Pettitte were not simply teammates.
They were two members of the group that came to define the Yankees’ championship era stretching from the late 1990s through 2009.
Jeter, Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada became known collectively as the Core Four.
By the summer of 2010, all four were still Yankees.
2010 All-Star Game carried heavy Yankees presence
The 2010 All-Star Game took place July 13 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.
The National League won 3-1, ending the American League’s long unbeaten run in the event.
The Yankees were everywhere.
Jeter started at shortstop. Robinson Cano started at second base. Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher, Phil Hughes, Pettitte, Rivera and CC Sabathia were also selected from the defending World Series champions.
That roster offered a snapshot of just how powerful New York remained immediately after its 2009 title.
Pettitte entered the game after American League starter David Price and delivered a scoreless inning.
The left-hander was in the middle of one of the best starts to a season late in his career.
Pettitte finished 2010 at 11-3 with a 3.28 ERA over 21 starts.
His .786 winning percentage led the American League among pitchers with at least 10 decisions.
Ball connects two very different Yankees careers
Jeter and Pettitte took different paths through Yankees history.
Jeter never left.
He spent all 20 seasons of his major league career with New York and retired after the 2014 season as the Yankees’ career hits leader.
Pettitte spent most of his career in the Bronx but pitched three seasons for his hometown Houston Astros before returning to New York.
He later retired after 2010, returned in 2012 and finally finished his career following the 2013 season.
Their connection was postseason baseball.
Jeter played in 158 career postseason games.
Pettitte became the winningest pitcher in postseason history, finishing with 19 playoff victories.
Together, they helped establish a Yankees era defined by October.
That gives a baseball signed by both men more meaning than an ordinary pair of autographs.
The 2010 season came directly after Yankees last championship
Timing also separates this ball from countless other signed Yankees collectibles.
The 2010 All-Star Game came roughly eight months after Jeter and Pettitte celebrated the 2009 World Series championship.
Pettitte had delivered another memorable postseason during that run.
Jeter remained the captain and face of the franchise.
The following season represented an attempt to extend that championship window.
New York won 95 games in 2010 before losing to the Texas Rangers in the American League Championship Series.
The All-Star baseball therefore sits at an interesting historical point: after the franchise’s most recent championship but before the eventual breakup of the Core Four era.
Auction price offers another look at Jeter memorabilia market
Mynt Auctions placed an estimated value between $1,846 and $2,399 on the baseball.
That estimate is higher than the $1,261-$1,639 range attached to another Jeter-signed baseball from his 2,000th-hit game that appeared through the same auction marketplace.
The Jeter-Pettitte ball’s appeal rests on a different foundation.
It combines two signatures, documented game use and an identifiable marquee event.
It also captures two Yankees icons on the same piece of memorabilia from a season in which both were still active teammates.
Collectors ultimately determine whether those ingredients justify the estimate.
Core Four history remains valuable long after careers end
The Yankees have gone through multiple roster generations since Jeter and Pettitte retired.
The Core Four has remained part of the franchise’s identity.
Jeter, Pettitte, Rivera and Posada collectively helped New York win championships in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009, although Pettitte spent the 2004-06 seasons with Houston.
Their names remain closely tied to an era Yankees fans continue to revisit.
A baseball does not need to come from a World Series game to capture some of that history.
This one connects Jeter, Pettitte, the defending champions and the 2010 All-Star Game on a single piece.
Now it has returned to the market with collectors being asked to place a price on that connection.
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