Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Heritage Auctions:

When the playoffs are in full swing top notch sports memorabilia auctions are sure to pop up. Fortunately, this years crop does not disappoint. Hunt, Brockelman & Luckey, Mastro, 19th Century Only, Huggins & Scott and Heritage are filled with some great items to look through.

For this segment I'll focus on Heritage. They have some incredible items including Ruth autographed balls galore, his cap worn during his barnstorming days and more cards than i can link here.

Below is a ball that comes from the early days of Baseball.
It took thirteen tries until the Washington Senators catcher was able to snag one, and later the crowd that had gathered to watch Gabby Street attempt to catch a ball dropped from the top of the Washington Monument described the sound of the ball hitting Street's mitt as that of a pistol shot. The 535 foot drop took just four and a half seconds, the ball carrying two hundred pounds of force behind it as it reached Street, traveling at one-eighth the speed of a rifle bullet, as a local Washington newspaper reported.
Yes, this is the ball Gabby caught that August day.

I first wrote about this item in August, below is a 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers stock certificate for 2,750 shares of the team signed by Walter O'Malley.

In 1955 the Dodgers won their first World Series. Their capture of the pennant that year became a afterthought. Nevertheless, their National League championship was memorialized with a certificate from Warren Giles. It reads:
"Championship Award, 1955 Greetings, Official National League records establish the following record of games won and lost by National League Clubs during the Championship Season of 1955. By virtue of having the highest percentage of games won, the Brooklyn National League Baseball Club, 'Brooklyn Dodgers,' is hereby declared 1955 Champion of The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs and is entitled to fly the National League pennant at its park symbolizing said Championship until the close of the 1956 season. Signed Warren Giles, President and Secretary."

How did this get out? Below is Mike Sharperson's 1988 World Series trophy.