Lelands.com recently concluded its summer auction, with 1,344 lots totaling $2.1 million. The highest priced item of the event was a high grade Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig
signed ball which fetched $53,152.
The most controversial item, a naked photo of Joe DiMaggio sold for $17,233. In the 1930’s photograph, DiMaggio is shown basking in the showers of Yankee Stadium. The image generated controversy prior to the auction, when the attorney for DiMaggio’s estate claimed the photo was a fake. Lelands guaranteed the authenticity of the photo, an Acme News Pictures, Inc. press photo.
At the time, Lelands.com chairman and founder Joshua Evans said, “To the best of our knowledge, the person questioning the authenticity of the photo did not even know DiMaggio in the 1930s when the photo was taken. Therefore, he has no basis for his assertion regarding DiMaggio’s personality at that time and certainly no first person
account knowledge of his demeanor.”
Despite a less-than-stellar economy, a number of auction items realized prices higher than projected.
Among the highlights:
BASEBALL
• 1940s Joe DiMaggio’s Restaurant Wine Bottle from his private stock: $1,125
• Babe Ruth Single Signed Bat (PSA 9 MINT): $34,094
• 2009 New York Yankees World Championship Ring: $20,627
• 1963 Topps Baseball Card Set: $18,120.25
• 2007 Red Sox Championship Ring with Box: $17,047
• Ebbets Field Brick: $1,993.21
• 1931 Tour of Japan Team Signed Baseball: $10,228
• 1945 Roger Hornsby Signed Bat: $8,616.68
• 1952 Topps #333 Pee Wee Reese PSA NM-MT 8: $4,125
FOOTBALL
• 1969 Football Writer’s Plaque Presented to Pudge Heffelfinger: $5,156
• Joe Gilliam Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl X Ring: $38,423.84
• Jim Thorpe Signed Canton Bulldogs Football Photograph: $4,421
• 1959 National Champions Syracuse Orange Signed Football with Ernie
Davis: $4,019
BASKETBALL
• Dave Gambee’s 1965-66 Philadelphia 76ers Game Worn Jersey: $4,538
• Shaquille O’Neil Game Worn Basketball Shoes: $2,210.82
HOCKEY
• 1990 Mario Lemieux All-Star Game-Worn Jersey, Pants, Socks: $6,199
• 1978-79 Jean Beliveau Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup Trophy: $4,863
BOXING
• Jerry Quarry Fight-Worn Trunks and Robe (vs. Floyd Patterson) $2,192
• Muhammad Ali and George Foreman signed Boxing Gloves: $774
PHOTOGRAPHY
• Collection of unpublished Woodstock Photographs (50): $2,269
• 1898 Christy Mathewson Team Photograph – Earliest Known: $5,350
• 1917 Detroit Tigers Panoramic Photograph: $6,473
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