The New York Yankees road jersey worn by Derek Jeter during his 1995 big league debut and when he delivered the first of his 3,465 career hits sold for $369,000 early Sunday as Goldin Auctions wrapped up its Winter Catalog Auction.
Signed and inscribed by the new Hall of Famer, the jersey has also been photo-matched to the final game of the regular season in 1995 when the Yankees clinched their first ever American League Wild Card spot.
While his May 29th, 1995 debut resulted in an 0-for-5, Jeter bounced back the next day by collecting his first two career hits and scoring his first ever run. Jeter appeared in 15 games in 1995, laying the groundwork for his breakout 1996 AL Rookie of the Year season.
Jeter’s first Yankees jersey becomes the highest priced modern-era jersey ever sold, surpassing the Mike Piazza post-911 home run jersey.
The jersey Jeter was wearing when he made his AAA debut at Columbus in 1994 was also in the auction and generated a bidding war, eventually selling for $161,130 after 39 bids.
The jerseys were two of seven items to sell for more than $100,000 in the auction. Two more came from the timely sale of “Miracle on Ice” items on the 40th anniversary of the famous U.S. Olympic Hockey Team’s upset of the USSR in Lake Placid. The gold medal presented to Steve Christoff was the second top-selling piece at $319,800. Christoff’s blue Team USA jersey from the gold medal game against Finland netted $116,850.
In all, the auction generated over $5 million in sales.
The bat used by George Sisler to establish the single season hit record of 257 in 1920 was also a “hit” with bidders, bringing $184,500. Used by Louisville Slugger as part of the company’s traveling display for many years, the bat ws used by Sisler to attain one of baseball’s few .400 seasons. His record of 257 hits stood until Ichiro Suzuki rapped out 262 in 2004.
Several cards also sold for strong prices including a 1954 Topps Hank Aaron rookie card graded PSA 9 ($184,500); a 2009 Mike Trout Bowman Chrome Autographed Orange Refractor PSA 9 ($147,600), a 1916 M101-5 Babe Ruth rookie card SGC 1.5 ($88,560), 18 sealed boxes of 1993 Upper Deck SP baseball ($56,580) and the top-ranked set of 1960-61 Kahn’s basketball ($20,910).
Other sales included:
- 1964-65 Mickey Mantle game jersey $99,630
- 1949 Mickey Mantle signed payroll check from his stint with Independence, MO $56,580
- April 20, 1916 program from Opening Day at Weeghman Park (later renamed Wrigley Field) $19,680
- Kobe Bryant autographed official scorer’s report from his 81-point game in 2006 ($19,680)
Complete results can be found on GoldinAuctions.com.
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