Huggins & Scott’s most recent auction ended this weekend with some big prices tallied on some rare sports collectibles.
Leading the way was an official program from Game 7 of the 1903 World Series at Pittsburgh. The program is only the third known copy and sold for a staggering $222,270.
With so few known copies of the Pittsburgh version having survived, the program’s significance is easily understood. However, its importance is increased as it is from the first modern World Series in Major League Baseball. The Boston Americans ultimately won that series in eight games, 5-3, over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The program was hardly the only heavy hitter in the auction, though.
Also up for grabs was an 1871 Mort Rogers scorecard featuring Albert Spalding on the cover. The scorecard sold for a total of $118,305 and is, according to Huggins and Scott, the highest price on record paid for a scorecard.
Spalding’s significance to the sport is clear and the scorecard is particularly important as it is one of the few items known to feature him as a player. Following his playing days, Spalding wrote the first ever set of baseball rules and also helped organize the National League while also serving as a president and part owner of the Chicago White Stockings. Spalding was, of course, also one of the founders of the famous Spalding sporting goods company that still exists today. Mort Rogers was an ex-player, who developed these scorecards, placing pictures of players on them, as discovered by baseball researcher and MLB Historian John Thorn.
Part of the reason for the high price on the scorecard was the condition. Many of the Mort Rogers scorecards have been trimmed, leaving only the photograph. However, this one is intact and well-preserved.
Because the scorecard, shown here, is called a “Photographic Card” on the front, some have even classified it as a baseball card. But whether it’s a scorecard or a baseball card, isn’t all that important. What is important is that it’s an extremely desirable collectible.
On the ‘no-doubt-about-it’ baseball card front, the top spot was held down by a Nap Lajoie 1933 Goudey card. Graded an SGC 60, the shortprinted card raised a total of $43,020. The Lajoie is one of the most iconic baseball cards of all time and always sells for quite a bit of money, even in low grade.
Beyond the sports items, Huggins and Scott’s auction also featured some big time comic books. The highest earner there was a #1 edition of Marvel’s 1962 The Incredible Hulk. Graded a CGC 8.5, that comic sold for $162,520. That price was second only to the 1903 World Series program in the entire auction.
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