Official Rawlings Major League (Manfred) baseball signed in black felt tip on a side panel in Ukrainian cursive and English print, "Zelenskyy." In addition to the unspecified percentage of the sale that will be donated through the global nonprofit Americares, RR Auction will contribute its buyer’s premium and seller’s commission to war relief efforts.
Americares’ website describes its humanitarian response in Ukraine as focused on the medical needs of millions of refugees.Kaplan is a governmental affairs specialist from New York who has many contacts with the U.N.
and in U.S. politics. He doesn't buy his baseballs at auction, instead acquiring them himself through those contacts.He started his collection in 1996 when former President Bill Clinton signed a baseball for him at a meeting in Washington, D.C.
The collection, which now numbers more than 500 items, has been displayed at museums and presidential libraries around the country.This is not the first time he has auctioned a piece of his collection, but this is probably the first time he has sold a ball signed by such a high profile leader, a man he has come to admire during the country's war with Russia."I am really hoping Zelenskyy survives this," Kaplan said.