Sign of the times: Political baseballs

IT'S ON EBAY | Anthony Tarantino
An occasional look at some of the stuff
available on the Internet auction site

While doing my regular search for odd baseball stuff on eBay this week, I came across an interesting item.

It's a baseball autographed by President Barack Obama. The ball has been authenticated and has a price tag of $4,999.99 or best offer.

Wow!

So I began to wonder: What other celebrities are out there signing baseballs? Well, there's a bunch. Some more famous than others.

From the acting world, balls are available from such stars as Kevin Costner ($149.95), Will Smith ($129,99), Samuel L. Jackson ($95) and Matt Damon ($79.95). If you don't want to spend as much money, you could always settle for a signed ball of Luke Wilson ($39.95) or Billy Bob Thornton ($13.50).

But if you have your heart set on a presidential ball, maybe you should consider Bill Clinton ($250 to $3,494.99) or George H.W. Bush ($349.99).

You can also find autographed baseballs from horror writer Strephen King ($299), "Sopranos" star James Gandolfini ($170) and "American Idol's" Sanjaya ($75).

Others include: Daytime talk's Dr. Phil ($99.99) and Maury Povich ($13.49).

I looked for Jerry Springer, but fortunately there were no matches.