Description
Estate-collected cup showcasing a portrait of Willie Mays, with a handwritten message: “To T. Gwynn Thanks Joe P.” While the inscription is informal, the likely signer is Joe Pepitone—a colorful MLB personality who played during Mays’ era and later became known for his presence at memorabilia events and old-timers’ games. This friendly dedication suggests admiration between two generations of greats. Gwynn, like Mays, belonged to the 3,000 Hit Club—though their paths to greatness were distinct: Mays hit for power and flash, while Gwynn was the master craftsman at the plate. This cup offers a rare intersection of eras, honoring Mays while personally connecting to Gwynn, and possibly signed by another baseball figure who appreciated them both.
Dimensions: 5.5" x 3.5"
All dimensions are approximate.
Disclaimer: Condition may vary slightly from photos, with unique marks that highlight the award’s authenticity as a career artifact. This item features a silver OVD, verifying its authenticity through the Tony Gwynn Estate. A TRuEST™ authenticator was not on-site to witness its awarding, which is why this item does not carry our gold-level witness-based authentication OVD.
TRuEST™ Authentication
The Realest™ empowers partners in sports, music, and film with the industry's most advanced authentication and marketplace technology. As forgeries grow more sophisticated with deepfakes and other emerging threats, protecting the integrity of physical memorabilia has never been more critical. Traditional authentication standards carry significant risk, but The Realest™ takes a proactive approach—partnering directly with teams, artists, and studios to source items at the origin.Our multi-layered, witness-based authentication process—TRuEST™—sets a new standard in the industry, backed by a money-back guarantee. TRuEST™ replaces traditional certificates of authenticity with immutable provenance stored on the blockchain, transparently displaying population data, creation dates, and key item details. This information cannot be altered, backdated, or hacked and remains accessible at all times.
Each item is uniquely fingerprinted using our patent-pending covert markings and holographic technologies, including a tamper-resistant OVD hologram. These security measures ensure The Realest™ can verify authenticity with absolute certainty—now and in the future—while detecting any attempts to alter or counterfeit items using undisclosed, cutting-edge security methods.
