Guernsey's Will Hold Special Auction During All Star Weekend

Guernsey's, famous in the collecting world for holding the 1989 Topps archive auction, will be holding a special auction during MLB's All Star Weekend featuring the 1912 Boston World Series trophy.

Guernsey's is pleased to be the auction house chosen to represent a unique piece of baseball history, one of very few World Series trophies to remain in private hands. Predating the days when Major League Baseball provided an official World Series trophy, the 1912 Boston Red Sox team purchased this sterling silver trophy to honor their teammate and manager, Jake Stahl. Remaining in the Stahl family for the better part of a century, and now the property of a collector, the cup will find a new owner this Summer. Bidders have a chance to own an incredible piece of baseball history.

This is an incredible piece of Baseball history. I'll let the auction description speak for itself.

The first major league baseball game to be played at Fenway Park took place on April 20, 1912, between the Red Sox and the New York Highlanders (who later became the Yankees). The Sox launched their new ballpark with a rousing 7-6 win. As the season progressed, that winning streak continued, with the Sox and their ever-present “Royal Rooters” - led by Boston Mayor (and grandfather to President John F. Kennedy) John “Honey-Fitz” Fitzgerald and local tavern owner and Red Sox fanatic Michael T. “Nuf-Ced” McGreevy - marching towards the American League Championship and the World Series with a regular season record of 105-47. The 1912 roster included National Baseball Hall of Famers Harry Hooper and Tris Speaker, and Boston Red Sox Hall of Famers Bill Carrigan, Larry Gardner, Duffy Lewis and Smokey Joe Wood.

Though the Sox emerged as eventual champions, the 1912 World Series was a real nail-biter, with the Sox clinching it only after reaching extra innings in an unexpected eighth game. Indeed, the 1912 Series is the only “best of seven” World Series to require an eighth game. (Game two ended in a tie, called on account of darkness after eleven innings.) Four of the eight games were decided by a single run, and two games went into extra innings. This historic showdown also marks the first time a World Series was decided in the last inning of the final game, or “sudden death.” John B. Forster, writing in the 1913 Spalding's Official Baseball Guide had this to say about the series: “No individual, whether player, manager, owner, critic or spectator, who went through the world's series of 1912 ever will forget it. There never was another like it.”

Above is an original Carl Horner photograph featuring the the trophy and the 1912 Boston Red Sox team.