Babe Ruth’s name “is the most appealing in the game” of baseball, a sportswriter noted in 1938, three years after the Bambino's retirement. The Queen Mary 2 is the Grande Dame of luxury ocean liners. These two giants will share the spotlight for an upcoming auction that will feature the uniform the Bambino wore in 1938 when he was a first-base coach for the Brooklyn … [Read more...]
Five 1930s Diamond Matchbooks Bargains
The 1930s Diamond Matchbooks are an excellent way to find pre-war collectibles at a low price. If you're unfamiliar with them, these unique items feature players printed onto matchbook covers. Matchbooks complete with the original matches still inside will be more expensive. However, the majority are found without the matches and those are the real bargains. Classified as U1-U4 … [Read more...]
T210 Old Mill Set Featured Minor Leaguers and a Holy Grail
The 1910 T210 Old Mill set is one of the more unique tobacco card sets around. And while many of the players are unknown to today's collectors, the issue is heavily pursued and includes a Holy Grail of sorts. T210 Old Mill Basics Many collectors unfamiliar with the release would be surprised to learn that the T210 Old Mill set is such a massive issue. In all, the set is made … [Read more...]
Casey Stengel Jersey Coming to Auction Dates to Boston Bees Era
Eighty years ago, he was just getting started as a big league manager, placed in charge of the hapless National League franchise in Boston. Now, a game-worn jersey from Casey Stengel’s tenure there is going up for sale. Heritage Auctions will offer a rare 1938 Boston Bees Stengel jersey in its Summer Platinum Auction, where it’s expected to sell for $40,000 or … [Read more...]
1948 Signal Oil Set Featured Powerful Oakland Oaks Squad
The 1948 Oakland Oaks were a powerful team in the Pacific Coast League, and the West Coast circuit made a strong bid for major-league status several times. That was thwarted when the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants moved to California, but in the late 1940s the Triple-A PCL had some strong squads. Consider that the Oaks, while going 114-74 seventy years ago, won the PCL … [Read more...]
Casey Stengel: 1916 Image of the “Young Perfesser” at Auction
The image of Casey Stengel that’s probably in your mid is of the white-haired manager of the Yankees and Mets; a unique character who said things that left everyone scratching their heads. Long before those days, though, Casey was a skinny right fielder for the Brooklyn Robins. In fact, 101 years ago, Stengel helped Brooklyn reach the World Series where he faced a … [Read more...]
Rare Color Photo of 1956 Yankees at Auction
A rare oversized color photo of the 1956 World Series champion New York Yankees and once owned by their manager, Casey Stengel, is among the top items in the latest online catalog from RMY Auctions. The 8x10” Kodachrome remains in virtually perfect condition. Laid behind the original matte folder, the entire piece measures about 10 x 12” and was originally part of the … [Read more...]
Photo of the Day: Casey at the Bat
He had spent the previous five full seasons with the Brooklyn Robins, a notorious annual holdout and colorful character but a solid centerfielder. Finally exhausted by the annual contract hassles and in need of an arm, Brooklyn owner Charlie Ebbets traded Casey Stengel and George Cutshaw to Pittsburgh for Burleigh Grimes and two others before the start of the 1918 … [Read more...]
Photo of the Day: “Number 6, Mickey Mantle”
Like Ruth’s number 3, Jordan’s 23 and Gretzky’s 99, Mickey Mantle is forever identified with wearing number 7. He put it on early in his career and kept it until his retirement in the spring of 1969. In the days before his rookie season, however, Mantle had actually been assigned number 6 and a rare early photo from his career now at auction shows him in action, wearing that … [Read more...]
1950 Bowman Baseball a Trend Setter
As Americans said their good-riddances to the 1940s, a decade that shredded our hearts and families with war and decimated the National Pastime, sports fans were ready to finally enjoy their games with a full roster of superstars once again. When the first spring of the new decade dawned, the 1950 Bowman baseball set was ready and waiting to greet collectors who had waited all … [Read more...]