ALLENTOWN, Pa. — There are numerous Guinness World Records related to baseball, covering various aspects of the sport.
Now, local baseball fans have a chance to leave their own mark on history.
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs and Minor League Baseball are dragging — er, rolling — a massive 8-foot, 1,200-pound baseball across the country in the hopes of turning it into the most autographed sports object in history.
“This is Minor League Baseball at its finest — innovative, fun and something for the whole family to enjoy.”Kristin Sutton, Vice President of Marketing for MiLB, in a release
The mega-sphere of signatures will arrive at Coca-Cola Park just in time for a game against the Norfolk Tide on Thursday, July 24, as the final stop on a cross-country, 15-ballpark tour.
Fans, players and community members all are invited to leave their mark by adding a signature to the ball, the IronPigs said in a release.
Tickets to be part of the Lehigh Valley’s contributions to the world record effort can be snagged at ironpigsbaseball.com, at the Provident Bank Ticket Office at Coca-Cola Park, or by calling 610-841-PIGS.
'Can't wait to see the response'
The colossal baseball will be stationed at the East Gate entrance and will be in Allentown for one day only.
After that, it will be sent to Major League Baseball’s headquarters in New York City to be certified by an official Guinness World Records judge.
“This is Minor League Baseball at its finest — innovative, fun and something for the whole family to enjoy,” Kristin Sutton, Vice President of Marketing for MiLB, said in the release.
“Only in MiLB can you experience baseball like this. We can’t wait to see the response in these communities and find out just how many autographs we can fit on this ball.”
Prior to Thursday’s game, fans can enjoy happy hour from 5 to 7 p.m. presented by Twisted Tea. First pitch will be at 7:05 p.m. and gates open at 5 p.m.
And if autographing a moon-sized baseball weren’t enough, it also will be Festers Night at the ballpark — one week before the start of Musikfest.
The first 3,000 adults (fans 18 and over) will get a free Festers Cap during entry.
Peak autograph saturation
According to the Guinness World Records website, the current record for the most signatures on a single piece of sports memorabilia is 2,146.
That was achieved by the Cambridge United Football Club in the UK on Dec. 5, 2024, on a replica home kit football jersey.
The jersey was significantly oversized, measuring 5 meters (over 16 feet) from collar to waist, 4m (over 13 ft) armpit to armpit, and had a sleeve length of 4m.
The Cambridge United Football Club broke the record of 2,089 signatures set by the Japanese football team, Kawasaki Frontale.
As of July 22, the ball coming to Allentown already had more than 4,000 signatures, according to WTAJ-TV in Altoona, Blair County.
