Offered has to be one of the rarest official National League baseballs that were ever made. This red and black stitch baseball has the words Cork Center stamped on the left and right side of Official National League and there is no president stamp (John K. Tenor was president in 1917). According to available catalog references, this style of baseball was only produced one year, in 1917. In 1918, the phrase Cork Center goes back to a horizontal stamp rather than broken up on both sides of center stamp just as they had done from 1914-16. The ball itself remains in superb all original condition having never been used. It shows some usual light toning and maybe one/two small age spots where oil rises to the surface but they are extremely small. All ink factory stamps appear in near mint condition with little to no fading. If you collect vintage baseballs, this single season 1917 baseball probably does not rest in your collection and to try and find a finer example would be next to impossible as even a mint in box example, once opened, would probably have some age/oil spots as well and on this example, unlike opening a sealed box, you can see what you are getting.