Ruth bats, Mantle jerseys, high grade vintage card sets and the best 19th century football set in existence topped Mastro Auctions’ latest sale.

There was a time when home run bats could sometimes be nothing more than souvenirs–even when hoisted on the meaty shoulders of the most famous Yankee of all. In 1934, the stick used to extend what was then the current career home run record was signed by 17 Yankees and given away.

Early Friday morning, the bat changed hands again. This time, it took $98,500 to own it.

A 1934 Hillerich & Bradsby bat used by Babe Ruth to hit his 702nd home run drew 26 serious bids and topped all items in the catalog sale conducted by Mastro Auctions.

Including the Ruth bat, three items in the sale reached $90,00 or more once the 20% buyer’s premium was tacked on to the final bid. The finest 1894 Mayo’s Cut Plug football set of 35 cards on PSA’s Set Registry topped out at $96,000 while a 1920 side-written Walter Johnson game used bat brought $90,000.

The highest selling baseball card lot in the auction turned out to be a 1962 Topps master set (including all errors and variations), totalling 612 cards, and ranking #2 on the registry which sold for $84,000. The set included 196 PSA 9-graded cards.

One intruiging lot was a collection of 3721 negatives from long-time Chicago photographer George Burke including numerous images of Hall of Famers, which sold for $69,000.

Early high grade Mickey Mantle cards remain a hot commodity with a 1952 Bowman Mantle graded PSA 10 brought $69,000. It is one of just two of it’s kind to reach the gem mint status accorded by the company. A 1912 E270 Colgan’s Chips "Tin Tops" Joe Jackson graded SGC 86, part of a newly discovered Colgan’s collection which entered the hobby late last year, realized $66,000 while a couple of pre-War cards drew plenty of attention including a T205 Walter Johnson ($48,000) and a 1915 Cracker Jack Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown SGC 96 ($40,000).

Other highlights included:

• 1958 Mickey Mantle game worn road jersey (#57 placed over the #7 for use during spring training in ‘59 ($63,000)
• 1975 Topps baseball vending case (24 500-count boxes) ($63,000)
• 1925-31 Lou Gehrig bat ($48,000)
• 1960 Topps Baseball set (#15 on PSA Registry) ($43,200)
• Single-signed Babe Ruth autographed baseball PSA/DNA 7.5 ($31,200)