An experiential marketing campaign for Minor League Baseball has just made it into the Guinness Book of World Records with the World’s most autographed piece of sports memorabilia—a 1,200 pound baseball that travelled the country to collect signatures. 

The final tally: 6,750 signatures easily beating the previous record of 2,146 signatures that were collected on a Cambridge United Football Club replica jersey (measuring about 20 square meters) in 2024.   

The league worked with sports marketing agency Good Sports Creative, based in Portland, OR., on the effort. 

The agency was founded last year by Josh Bodgan, who spent the previous 8+ years at Wieden + Kennedy Portland as a creative director. Before that he served at AKQA, JWT and other agencies.  

The oversized ball, equipped with a real-time digital signature counter and prominently positioned on a raised Astroturf platform at games, made its debut at the Indianapolis Indians home game June 24. It made 15 stops at Minor League Baseball stadiums around the country before arriving this week in New York City. 

The World’s Most Autographed Baseball tour culminates today (July 29), with the ball on display in the plaza in front of Major League Baseball’s headquarters and MLB Store in midtown Manhattan, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.   

The public had a chance to sign the ball earlier today, and then a representative from Guinness World Records officially certified the ball with the ‘world’s most autographed piece of sports memorabilia’ designation. The larger-than-life baseball made its New York City debut the previous day when it toured Manhattan.  

Bodgan has fond memories of MiLB from childhood, as he noted on his LinkedIn page. “I went to my first Minor League game the summer after 6th grade. Forgot to bring a baseball, so I asked the entire bullpen to sign my Stussy shirt instead.... Minor League games are the best. Mascots and dance-offs in the stands while a future Cy Young winner is dealing on the mound.”  

It was that spirit, he noted this week, that inspired the campaign-- “a state-hopping monument connecting Minor League communities through a shared purpose: leaving their mark on something that’s equal parts historic and ridiculous.”