Heritage Auction is offering a hot summer night for collectors during the National Sports Collectors Convention later this month. And the some of the top items for sale carry a distinctive Chicago flavor.
Items from Da Shot, Da Coach and Da Sweetness? That’s one way of putting it.
Heritage’s live Summer Platinum Night, which begins at 7:30 p.m. CST on July 30 at the Donald E. Stephens Center in Rosemont, Illinois, will feature memorabilia items from Chicago icons Michael Jordan, Mike Ditka and Walter Payton. And while Mickey Mantle has no ties to Chicago, one of his highest graded 1952 Topps rookie cards (a PSA-8) is also available to bidders. Internet bidding has already opened with the Mantle card sitting at $286,800 with the 19.5% buyer’s premium.
The full basket, backboard and stanchion used when Jordan made his game-winning, series-clinching jump shot against Utah in the 1998 NBA Finals is the biggest item for sale. In a news release, Heritage’s director of auctions Chris Ivy estimated that this piece of basketball history will fetch more than $100,000.
Ditka, beloved for his blue-collar grit as a football player with the Bears and his no-nonsense approach as Chicago’s coach during its Super Bowl run in the 1985 season, is featured in two auctions. One is a game-used jersey from a 1964 preseason game, one year after Ditka and the Bears won their last NFL title under legendary coach George Halas. The second is Ditka’s personal playbook that he used for Super Bowl XX, when the Bears crushed New England 46-10.
Both items should yield five-figure winning bids, Ivy believes.
Payton scored the final touchdown of his brilliant career on December 20, 1987, against the Seattle Seahawks. Payton’s five-yard run in the fourth quarter was not enough to prevent a 34-21 loss, but at the time, the score pulled the Bears to within 27-21.
After scoring his 110th career regular-season TD (he also had 20 in the postseason), Payton hurled the football deep into the end zone stands. Art Hrvatin caught the ball and got Payton to sign it; now, it’s a part of the auction.
This is the sixth straight year Heritage has put on an auction during the National.
“It’s a natural fit that has worked beautifully,” Ivy said. “The offerings this summer are nothing short of spectacular.”
If you’re looking for a Chicago angle that fits Mantle, 72 of his 536 career home runs were hit against the White Sox — with 30 of them coming at old Comiskey Park.
Another notable artifact for sale is one of the earliest known baseball cards — an 1860 Brooklyn Atlantics carte de visite, passed down through the family of player Archibald McMahon. You can read about that card here.
Game-used jerseys of several Hall of Famers in several sports will be auctioned: Mantle, Ditka, Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Roy Campanella, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson and Dan Marino.
Some other highlights:
• The Baseball Hall of Fame plaque presented to Ted Williams.
• A signed Cy Young cabinet card.
• A pair of World Series rings owned by Yankees Hall of Fame pitcher Red Ruffing.
• The Super Bowl ring presented to another Chicago folk hero, William “The Refrigerator” Perry.
• A 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente card graded PSA-9.
• A 1909-11 T206 Piedmont Walter Johnson portrait card graded PSA-9.
• The fight-worn shoes worn by Muhammad Ali during the 1975 “Thrilla in Manila” title fight against his archrival, Joe Frazier.
• The baseball hit by Pete Rose for his first of 4,256 career hits. That was a triple off Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend on April 13, 1963, and snapped an 0-for-11 start to Charlie Hustle’s season.
• A game-used basketball uniform worn by Jerry Lucas for Team USA during the 1960 Olympics in Rome.
• A baseball signed by Ty Cobb during the 1950s.
• A complete graded set of the 40-card, 1923-24 Patterson Hockey set.
• A game-worn jersey by Moses Malone when he was a rookie with the ABA’s Utah Stars in 1974-75.
To see the full catalog and get more information, click here.