Collectors chased down a Babe Ruth bat and some rare vintage baseball cards in Huggins & Scott’s catalog auction.

An early Babe Ruth bat generated the most interest in Huggins & Scott’s December auction.

The 1918-21 era Ruth warclub sold for $40,000. With the company’s sliding buyer’s premium scale, the winning bidder paid only $3,000 additional for a total of $43,000. Authenticated and graded ‘7′ by PSA/DNA, the bat drew eight bids.

An old-fashioned bidding war ensued for a collection of 1954 and ‘55 Esskay Meats Baltimore Orioles cards. Desired in any grade by serious collectors, the cards were split into sixteen different lots. Together, they realized an incredible $78,607. Cards of Duane Pillette and Fred Marsh topped five figures.

A 1921 Tip Top Lefty Grove card from his minor league playing days, graded SGC 20, drew 37 bids and sold for $29,562. It is the only graded example of this rare card and the front identifies the young hurler destined for Cooperstown by the name "Groves". A lot of 13 cards from the same set sold for $32,250.

A collection of W600 Cabinet cards sold for $16,938, a 1927 Honey Boy Babe Ruth (SGC 50) sold for $4312 and the only known example of a 1910 E-93 Standard Caramel Ty Cobb in black and white sold for $7875.

Among the other memorabilia up for grabs was a 1932 Yankees team-signed ball featuring both Ruth and Lou Gehrig. It sold for $10,125. A 1912 New York Giants autographed ball ended at $10,125 and a 1919 Chicago White Sox payroll check, made out to pitcher Claude "Lefty" Williams and signed by both Williams and owner Charles Comiskey in the year of the Black Sox scandal, sold for $9562.