Top 10 Most Expensive Historic Baseball Memorabilia

Wikicollecting

Hi there,

Hopefully this Top 10 most expensive history-making baseball collectibles might appeal to some you.

http://en.wikicollecting.org/the-top-10-most-expensive-historic-baseball-memorabilia


Dan

Sean1125

I think you will be surprised by #1 I was

The Top 10 most expensive historic baseball memorabilia

As Barry Bonds approached Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record in 2001, throngs of people would take to the water of McCovey Cove, San Francisco, in the hope that Bonds’s record breaking 756th home run would head their way. Bonds hit 35 so called “splash hits” but his record breaking ball in 2007 only made the bleachers.

Here is the Wikicollecting.org Top 10 most expensive history-making baseball collectibles.

10. Mickey Mantle’s first contract - $19,550

Mickey Mantle’s contract, which he signed with the Ban Johnson League to enable him to play for the Independence Yankees in 1949, sold for $19,550 at Christie’s in September 1996. Mantle went on to have a Hall of Fame career with the New York Yankees.

9. Babe Ruth’s earliest known used baseball bat - $107,550

The earliest known used baseball bat by Babe Ruth sold for $107,550 at a Heritage Auctions sale in 2010.

Dating from early 1916, the Hillerich & Bradsby Co bat is thought to have been the 21-year-old’s main weapon of choice during the early part of the season.

8. Sandy Koufax’s 1963 “no-hitter “glove - $126,500

The glove Sandy Koufax was wearing when he pitched his no-hitter for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Francisco Giants in May 1963 sold for $126,500 in December 2004.

7. Fenway Park’s first pitched ball - $132,000


Bath Ruth’s Louisville Slugger bat
The first ball pitched at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, sold for $132,000 at Sotheby’s in June 2005.

The ball was pitched by Boston Mayor John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald , the grandfather of John F Kennedy, on April 20, 1912.

Fenway Park is beloved by baseball fans for its idiosyncratic design and wonderful history.

6. Barry Bonds’s record-breaking 73rd home-run baseball - $450,000

The baseball Barry Bonds hit to record his record-breaking 73rd home-run in the 2001 season sold for $450,000 at auction to toy manufacturer Todd McFarlane in that year.

Bonds's 73 home runs in a single season still stands as a Major League record.

5. Hank Aaron’s record-breaking 755th home run baseball - $650,000

Hank Aaron’s then record-breaking 755th and last home run in July 1976 sold for $650,000 in 1999.

In 1974 Aaron had previously surpassed Babe Ruth's record of 714 home runs, despite receiving racially-motivated death threats as he approached the record.

4. Barry Bonds’s all-time home run record breaking ball - $750,000

Barry Bonds’s 756th home run ball, which broke Aaron's all-time home run record in 2007, sold for $750,000 later that year.

The ball was caught by 22-year-old Matt Murphy who was quickly ushered away from the throng of fans by police officers.

3. Babe Ruth’s 1919 New York Yankees contract - $996,000

Babe Ruth’s 1919 New York Yankees contract was sold in June 2005 for $996,000 at Sotheby's. At the time, it was the top price ever paid at an auction for a sports document.

Signed on December 26, 1919, the contract consists of five pages, yellowed through age.

The agreement details the $125,000 sale of Ruth to the Yankees from rivals the Boston Red Sox, more than doubling the previous record for a player sale.

2. Babe Ruth’s Louisville Slugger bat - $1.26m

Babe Ruth’s Louisville Slugger bat – used to hit the first run at the newly-opened Yankee Stadium in 1923 – sold for $1.26 million in 2004.

It later commanded just $537,750 at a Heritage Auction in October 2009.

1. Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball - $3m

The most expensive item of sports memorabilia ever sold at auction is the ball hit by Mark McGwire for his record-breaking 70th home run in a single season in 1998.

The ball was sold at a Guernsey's auction in New York in 1999 for $3m to Todd McFarlane. The price was 23 times higher than the record price for a baseball.

jasoneggert

This list does not seem accurate. The 10th most expensive piece of baseball memorabilia was only $19,550.

I am thinking there has to be plenty of Jerseys or bats worth more than that.

-Jason

jimrad

<< <i>
8. Sandy Koufax’s 1963 “no-hitter “glove - $126,500

The glove Sandy Koufax was wearing when he pitched his no-hitter for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Francisco Giants in May 1963 sold for $126,500 in December 2004.
>>



I was at this game when I was 11 years old and it was truly spectacular. What a great memory for me with my dad.
If memory serves me right Wally Moon hit a home run off the right field foul pole.
Sandy Koufax wow what a pitcher!! When he broke off that curve ball the batters would hear call strike 3 and walk back to their dugouts shaking their heads.

Dboneesq

<< <i>This list does not seem accurate. The 10th most expensive piece of baseball memorabilia was only $19,550.
I am thinking there has to be plenty of Jerseys or bats worth more than that. Jason >>


Jason ... My thoughts exactly. This means there is NO MEMORABILIA worth between $19,550.00 and $107,550.00? IMPOSSIBLE.

Edited to add the LINK.

dennis07

I could be wrong but I think the list is for selling price and not worth.

bking

I think the key word is 'historic'. That lets the author have a free hand iin what to include.

Dboneesq

<< <i>I could be wrong but I think the list is for selling price and not worth. >>


You are correct. But don't you think there have been items that SOLD between $19,550.00 and $107,550.00? Probably THOUSANDS.

Dboneesq

<< <i>I think the key word is 'historic'. That lets the author have a free hand iin what to include. >>


I am sure you are right. I guess "Historic Baseball Memorabilia" can be whatever you deem it to be!

Probstein123

Sandy Koufax’s 1963 “no-hitter “glove - $126,500
==> that's an insane price

MULLINS5

I thought the Bartman ball sold for ~100k