Two items have headed deep into six figures into the final hours of bidding in SCP Auctions’ Spring Premier catalog.
The groundbreaking and much publicized 1857 “Laws of Base Ball” documents soared to $417,733 on Friday. Originally purchased at auction years ago, the documents have since been discovered to be in the handwriting of Daniel Lucius “Doc” Adams, who was then serving as President of the New York Knickerbockers Base Ball Club. Adams drafted the manuscript for presentation at the historic Base Ball Convention of 1857 in New York City.
Adams’ “Laws of Base Ball” were the focal point of the convention and among dozens of newly proposed rules and guidelines established for the first time including setting the base paths at 90 feet, the number of men to a side at nine, and the duration of the game at nine innings. It’s expected bidding will intensify before the auction closes late Saturday night.
A well-preserved 1956 Sandy Koufax Brooklyn Dodgers game-worn jersey pushed to $345,233. Considered of the most historically significant Brooklyn Dodger jerseys ever offered for sale, the home flannel was worn by the Hall of Fame Dodger great at the dawn of his epic career. Auction officials say it is the hobby’s only fully authenticated, original, unaltered home jersey worn by Koufax during the team’s days at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.
Those bids don’t include the 20% buyer’s premium that will be included in the final realized prices.
The Don Drysdale Estate Collection, the largest personal assortment of Dodgers memorabilia ever offered publicly, is also recording its fair share of noteworthy high bids led by the late Hall of Famer’s 1962 Cy Young Award, which has climbed to $56,973, his Dodgers World Series championship rings from 1963 ($35,373) and 1965 ($26,575) and his 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers game-worn rookie season uniform ($24,159).
Other top bids in the auction are coming in from graded cards and sets including a 1952 Topps baseball complete set, which stood at $94,948; a PSA 8 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente rookie card ($55,612) and a collection of unused, graded tickets representing all 50 Super Bowl games ($57,068).
Bidding is open to registered bidders only at www.scpauctions.com through Sat., April 23. Initial bidding closes at 5 p.m. PDT on Saturday.