A 1916 M101-5 Sporting News Babe Ruth rookie card graded PSA 7 (near mint) sold for $552,000 during the first of a three-day catalog sale conducted by Heritage Auctions last Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The card is one of the three 7s in PSA's Population Report (the company has graded only three as high as 8). The cards section led off the auction, with dozens … [Read more...]
1973 Hank Aaron Game Jersey On Weekend Block
He was 39, already at a point where most mortal men of the 1970s had retired or been forced out of the game. Hank Aaron? Just another year of hitting .300 with 40 homers. It’s remarkable when you consider the pressure that must have been building since it became obvious he’d be able to play long enough to break the record many thought would never … [Read more...]
Classic Baseball Photos Highlight Heritage Auctions’ Vintage Catalog
Baseball and photography go hand in hand. Never was there a more aptly named book than The Image of Their Greatness by Lawrence Ritter. Baseball photos resonate with the public. Collectors will have a chance to acquire some of baseball’s most iconic images from its “golden age” during Heritage Auctions’ Vintage Sports Photography Catalog auction on May 20. It includes a 1927 … [Read more...]
Consignment of the Week: Bryant’s 1st World Series Hit Bat
It was no secret Kris Bryant had the tools to be a very good Major League Baseball player. To lead the Cubs into the World Series before he turned 25? That was something for the mind to imagine. But as Cubs fans learned last fall, even the most impossible dreams do come true. Cubs fans and collectors have shown little willpower when it comes to … [Read more...]
Consignment of the Week: Flannel Brooks Robinson Jersey from 1971
The double-knit era hadn’t entirely taken hold in 1971. Among the uniforms donned by the defending World Series champions that year was the old school “Baltimore” road gray flannel. The one jersey any Orioles fan would have coveted owning is the famous #5 of Brooks Robinson. Heritage Auctions, which sold the bulk of Robinson’s personal memorabilia collection not long … [Read more...]
Ruth, Jackson, Mantle Among Heavy Heritage Hitters
Heritage Auctions is offering several cards that could crack the six-figure mark in its newly launched May catalog auction. A 1916 M101-5 Blank Back (Sporting News) Babe Ruth rookie graded PSA 7 is one of only three at that level (three others have been rated 8) and could reach $600,000 when bidding concludes next month. Also expected to command a big price is one of the … [Read more...]
Rare Ali-Liston II Fight Poster, Signed by Sonny, Up for Bid
It was one of the more bizarre sports stories of the 1960s. A much-anticipated rematch between the two biggest names in boxing shut down by a district attorney over concerns that the promoters were connected to organized crime and moved to, of all places, Lewiston, ME. Now, a poster for the Muhammad Ali-Sonny Liston fight that was to take place at Boston Garden—is going on … [Read more...]
1915 Red Sox Championship Pendant Tells Owner’s Remarkable Tale
One of the items in Heritage Auctions’ next catalog is rags to riches story. Literally. The 1915 Boston Red Sox World Series championship pendant was once the property of team owner Joseph Lannin, the son of Irish immigrants who was orphaned at age 14 but became one of the wealthiest men in Boston. The pendant, one of only two known to have survived over the … [Read more...]
Consignment Of The Week: Muhammad Ali’s 10-Page Speech
Muhammad Ali was called “The Greatest,” and even his detractors had to concede he was never at a loss for words. When Leon Spinks upset Ali for the heavyweight boxing title in a split decision on Feb. 15, 1978, it was truly a stunning outcome. “I let him rob my house when I was out to lunch,” Ali said at the time. Normally, the champion gives a rematch to the defeated … [Read more...]
Rare W600 Lajoie Coming to Auction
A record-breaking salary. A jump to a new league. A court challenge. It may seem like the elements of a story you’d fine in the pages of a recent sports media website but actually, it was part of the baseball landscape in 1902. Philadelphia star Nap Lajoie was offered big bucks to sign with the new American League in 1901 and for a salary of $4,000 (the equivalent … [Read more...]