TOPPING THE ROSTER ARE BABE RUTH’S 1916 WORLD SERIES GLOVE AND THE ONLY KNOWN UNOPENED CASE OF O-PEE-CHEE HOCKEY CARDS FROM WAYNE GRETZKY’S ROOKIE YEAR
By Robert Wilonsky
From February 24-25, Heritage will hold its annual Winter Platinum Night Sports Auction, its version of All-Star Weekend. Among the more than 1,600 lots featured in the event are gloves, jerseys, bats, championship rings and sneakers worn and used by some of sports’ most towering titans, among them Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Hank Aaron, Tom Brady, Willie Mays and so many more. Here, too, are the cards, photos and paintings of icons who defined the game, from a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle in Near Mint-Mint+ condition and a complete set of 1986 Fleer basketball cards to an album of photos from wrestling legend Kerry Von Erich’s 1983 wedding and a LeRoy Neiman painting commissioned by a Ted Williams super fan and signed by “The Splendid Splinter” himself. Read on for more winning highlights from the hero-filled auction.
The Glove So Nice Babe Ruth Signed It Twice
Among the auction’s numerous standouts is a twice-signed and annotated glove that a young Boston Red Sox pitcher named George Herman Ruth used during the Red Sox’s 1916 World Series win over the Brooklyn Robins. Not only was that Ruth’s second World Series title in as many years, but in Game 2, he tossed what remains the longest pitching outing in postseason history: a 14-inning complete-game victory over the boys from Brooklyn.
This glove holds history in its palm: Until now, the earliest known Ruth-used glove dated to his tenure with the New York Yankees. But written all over this glove is an extraordinary tale that predates Ruth’s superstardom in the Bronx. As Steve Grad, the principal authenticator for Beckett Authentication Services, noted when examining the glove, Ruth signed it twice – once in 1916, alongside the Red Sox’s title-team roster and the box score, then again decades later, when Babe added that this was the “Glove I used in the 1916 World Series.” That second autograph accompanies Ruth’s handwritten annotation.
A Ruth Double Header: Rare Postcard and Game-Used Bat
From one year earlier hails an equally rare vestige of Ruth’s Red Sox days: the single finest example of a postcard featuring the 1915 American League Champions, the 1915 BoSox, with a baby-faced 20-year-old Ruth joined by fellow Hall of Famers Tris Speaker and Harry Hooper. PSA has graded just a tiny handful of these postcards, with none higher than this one – graded Excellent to Mint 6, looking as sharp as the day baseball’s most coveted rookie (post)card was first made available to fans of the AL champs on the ascent. And rounding out a holy trinity of Ruth artifacts is this stunning slab of Hillerich & Bradsby used by Ruth from 1928 to ’29, a two-season span during which the Yankee belted 100 home runs, drove in 300 runs, won a World Series and hit for a combined batting average of .333. There’s still some power left in this 42.4-ounce Ruth signature model signed by the Babe himself.
One of the Most Ironclad Roberto Clemente Gamers Ever Presented at Auction
Ruth’s bat is among numerous historic sluggers available in this auction – one of which began making headlines weeks ago when word began circulating that Heritage would be offering a Hillerich & Bradsby game-used and signed by Roberto Clemente circa 1971. This is the lone Clemente bat that’s both autographed and photo-matched, and the provenance of this trademark knobless gem is impeccable: Clemente used a black marker when signing and gifting this bat to “my friend Carey,” who was well-known Montreal baseball memorabilia collector Carey Diab, known locally as “Mr. Baseball.” The bat has been matched using two separate images, including a photograph of “The Great One” gripping the slugger in an empty Three Rivers Stadium. Bat authentication expert John Taube assesses its game use as “excellent,” noting that its ball marks and stitch impressions on the barrel bear evidence of the Hall of Famer’s use.
The Holy Grail of Hockey Cards
On the other end of the spectrum is a cardboard case of 16 unopened boxes containing some of the most coveted cards in history: the 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee hockey cards. Who knows how many Wayne Gretzky rookie cards are contained inside the 768 packs spread across these 16 boxes? And will anyone ever find out whether this case contains the most valuable card on ice?
The case’s consignor – who hails from the Western Canadian province of Saskatchewan – was a rabid collector in the 1960s and ’70s who snatched up endless amounts of Canadian-made cards to trade with fellow travelers in the United States. He bought endless boxes and cases of cards, so many his family long ago lost count – and lost track. Ultimately, the consignor’s son found this case behind “stacks and stacks of other stuff,” says Heritage Sports Card Specialist and Consignment Director Jason Simonds.
“He texted and said, ‘I think I found something pretty good,’” Simonds says. Which proved to be an understatement: The son, unsure of what was in the case, pulled back a tiny corner of the cardboard to reveal a white box and two of its letters: a small black “N” (from the “Now Including 4 New NHL Teams”) and a larger red “W” from “Winnipeg.” Simonds told him to stop: “That’s a once-in-a-lifetime find,” he wrote back to the consignor’s son.
The entire case was eventually delivered to Schererville, Illinois, home of the Baseball Card Exchange. With cameras rolling, its founder, Steve Hart, authenticated the case as the only known example, which is now the first to come to auction.
The Finest Baseball Poster Known
And here’s yet another once-in-a-lifetime find, something no one knew existed until its recent discovery in an Ohio home: a poster promoting Albert Spalding’s 1888-89 Baseball World Tour, which consisted of two teams (the Chicago White Stockings and other all-stars) circumnavigating the globe to promote the national pastime. The tour, originally conceived as “Spalding’s Australian Baseball Tour,” expanded into a global showcase, beginning in Chicago with stops in Australia, Cairo, Rome, Paris, London and points in between before the voyage home. Until now, it was believed there was just one of these posters – in Cooperstown, where the Hall of Fame boasts of having “the only known copy.” Well, there’s another one now. And here it is.
LeRoy Neiman’s Towering Take on the ‘Legends of Basketball’
This auction brims with big names – and big lots, like LeRoy Neiman’s monumental Legends of Basketball painting that graced the cover of the 1977 NBA All-Star Game program. Measuring 9 feet high and 8 feet wide, the massive oil-on-canvas depicts 10 of the greatest players in professional basketball history: Bill Russell, Willis Reed, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Bob McAdoo, Julius Erving, Meadowlark Lemon, George McGinnis and Walt Frazier. The impossible scene spans eras and leagues and features Neiman’s trademark color-splashed style.
Go here for the full list of lots in Heritage’s February 24-25 Winter Platinum Night Sports Auction.
ROBERT WILONSKY is a staff writer at Intelligent Collector.