Fans and collectors are getting a chance to bid on some special team-signed bats to raise money in the fight against childhood cancer. Louisville Slugger has produced 31 gold bats stamped with the childhood cancer awareness ribbon, one for every MLB club and the MLB Network. All 31 gold MLB Louisville Slugger bats, autographed by over 30 members of each team and MLB Network … [Read more...]
2015 Louisville Slugger Auction Set for Saturday
The 2015 Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum Auction is set for this weekend with nearly 400 pieces of vintage and valuable sports memorabilia set to be sold via Hunt Auctions. The live auction begins at 11am EST on Saturday, November 14. An early 1930s Lou Gehrig model professional bat headlines the auction with a pre-sale estimate of $75,000-$100,000 and the sale also … [Read more...]
Q&A with Louisville Slugger Museum Director Anne Jewell
The following article is excerpted from the upcoming Fall issue of Baseball History and Art magazine, published by Helmar. Mike Shannon conducted the interview with Anne Jewell, executive director of the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory. Born in South Bend, Indiana, to a newspaper reporter (father) and a homemaker (mother), Anne Therese Jewell entered this life as … [Read more...]
1927 Yankees Photo and Unique Decal Bat Highlight Hunt’s Louisville Auction
With most catalog auctions ending in the wee small hours of the morning when the final, weary-eyed bidder collapses upon their keyboard, there is a certain charm that exists only in the live auction setting. Few sports memorabilia auction houses continue to mount live auctions, but for more than a decade Pennsylvania-based Hunt Auctions has developed a proven model that has led … [Read more...]
Cal Ripken Jr. Meets His (Bat) Maker
For seven years the Louisville Slugger Factory & Museum and Hunt Auctions have teamed to present their Living Legend Award. The 2013 recipient was Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. who, prior to receiving the award, was taken on the Louisville Slugger factory tour. It was 30 years ago today, by the way, that Ripken followed his Rookie of the Year … [Read more...]
Hold Babe Ruth’s Bat? Yes, Please
As a collector of pre-war sports cards and memorabilia the name that most often comes up when talking to collectors and non-collectors alike is that of George Herman Ruth. For nearly a century The Babe has been synonymous with baseball, and the result has been impressive prices for his cards, signature, and especially his game used memorabilia. This has led to something of a … [Read more...]
1924 Babe Ruth Signed Bat Brings $253,000
Christmas 1924 was one to remember for a buddy of Babe Ruth. Jimmie Donahue was a former boxer and restaurant owner who befriended the young star after his arrival in New York. That December day 88 years ago, the Yankees’ star stopped by to wish his friend a happy holiday and brought along an inscribed bat as a gift. It was one of numerous items from Ruth’s career that he … [Read more...]
Mantle Cards Stolen, Recovered
They're not hard to sell. With no serial numbers and thousands of others like them in the marketplace, ungraded vintage baseball cards can change hands in a hurry. It's why a Louisville man and his mom probably weren't optimistic when a break-in was discovered at their home this week. It's enough to make you want to grab a Louisville Slugger and look for the … [Read more...]