There’s one from Mickey Mantle’s debut and one from Babe Ruth’s farewell…
Willie Mays’ last homer as a Giant and another from Mike Trout’s first ever big league homer.
Tickets to those four moments and dozens of other milestones and events are almost ready to hit the market, riding a big wave of interest in an area of the hobby that’s been one of the big hobby stories of the 2020s.
Heritage Auctions is still putting the finishing touches on its Spring Catalog, a massive tome that will open for bidding on April 21, but we do know it’ll contain a huge stack of tickets, some of which haven’t been offered before and are expected to bring hefty prices. About 140 different ticket lots are scheduled to be offered.
Among them are several that allowed the original owner admittance to the debut games of some of sports’ biggest names.
There’s the only known full, unused ticket to 18-year-old Kobe Bryant’s inauspicious Nov. 3, 1996 NBA debut and the highest graded ticket to Pele’s first World Cup appearance in 1958, when the Brazilian teenager saw action against the USSR, assisting on a goal before exploding for six goals to lead his country to a title.
The auction also has a stub from Mickey Mantle’s 1951 Yankees debut–and the ticket envelope to go with it as well as a full ticket to Babe Ruth’s Yankee Stadium farewell on June 13, 1948.
There are two Michael Jordan debut tickets from 1984 including one VIP courtside that’s expected to sell for $100,000 or more.
Other tickets and stubs include those from the debuts of Tiger Woods, Larry Bird, LeBron James, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Lionel Messi, Miguel Cabrera, Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Clayton Kershaw.
There’s a complete run of 31 tickets to every University of Michigan game during Tom Brady’s time as the Wolverines’ quarterback as well as numerous Super Bowl tickets and stubs, some from games in which Brady played.
A stub from Ernie Banks’ 500th homer in 1971 will be offered as well as one from Derek Jeter’s first homer.
There are numerous World Series stubs including one from Game 1 of the 1919 “Black Sox” World Series when Eddie Cicotte hit Morrie Rath with a pitch, signaling that the “fix was in.”
Ticket stubs from Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak and Roger Maris’ historic 1961 season are among the other baseball listings.
The auction is scheduled to close over three sessions from May 12-14.
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