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LOT #80073
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Reserve Amount: $650,000
Circa 1934 Babe Ruth & Lou Gehrig Dual-Signed Baseball PSA/DNA NM-MT+ 8.5--Gifted to Priest at St. Mary's Industrial School f...
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Reserve Amount:
$650,000*
w/ Buyer's Premium (BP) : $780,000.00
Status: Reserve Not Met
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Description
The finest Ruth/Gehrig ball that PSA/DNA has ever graded!
Circa 1934 Babe Ruth & Lou Gehrig Dual-Signed Baseball PSA/DNA
NM-MT+ 8.5--Gifted to Priest at St. Mary's Industrial School for
Boys. They didn't get along," explained fellow pinstriped Hall
of Famer Tony Lazzeri. "Lou thought Ruth was a big-mouth and Ruth
thought Gehrig was cheap. They were both right." Though their
personalities couldn't have been more different, the men whose
digits were the first to be retired from Yankee service share the
manner of athletic immortality reserved for just the highest
reaches of the athletic pantheon. Separately, their autographs
remain among the most coveted and collectible in the hobby, but
together that appeal swells exponentially, particularly when that
shared medium is horsehide.Provided is the finest representation thereof, according to the hobby's leading autograph authentication/grading service PSA/DNA, an OAL (Harridge) ball of the format utilized during the pair's final season together in pinstripes. The Babe claims his customary sweet spot position, with Gehrig positioned to the west, close enough to allow for simultaneous display. The strict rating scale of the experts at PSA/DNA assign elite grades of 9/10 and 8/10 for the sluggers' autographs respectively, with the sphere itself assessed at a 7/10 level.
The provenance is as compelling as the condition, as the derivation tracks back to the St. Mary Industrial School in Baltimore where a troubled George Herman Ruth learned the game that would assure his athletic immortality. When the ball first entered the hobby a decade and a half ago, it was accompanied by the following letter of provenance, which will be transferred to the winning bidder:
This baseball came into our possession this way. My brother-in-law was born and raised in Arbustus Md. When he was a boy he played baseball on St. Mary's Industrial School's lot. He once encountered Babe Ruth on the lot. And his claim to fame was that Babe Ruth said to him 'Hey kid get the hell off this lot.' He was really hurt and began to cry. There was a priest there at the time and consoled him. Jack and that priest became friends. Later on in years the same priest gave him this ball. He knew Jack loved Babe Ruth. My brother-in-law also became a priest. He was older than my husband and when he passed, the ball came to my husband. My husband passed away in Dec of 2000. Before his death, he took the ball to the Babe Ruth House in Md where it was authenticated. And now at my age of 83 I decided to let the public have a chance to have the ball.
Some pricing research for top examples of Ruth/Gehrig duets should motivate those collectors with an eye toward investment potential, as the angle of appreciation has been steep, to put it mildly. As more and more find a home in permanent collections, that trajectory should continue. It could be quite some time before an equivalent representation surfaces again. This is the highest-graded baseball of this pair that Heritage has ever had the privilege to present. Full Grading LOA from PSA/DNA, NM-MT+ 8.5.
Guide Value or Estimate: $800,000 - up.
Auction Info
Proxy Bidding Ends
February
27th
Saturday
10:00 pm CT
Auction Dates
February
27th-28th
Saturday-Sunday
Proxy Bidding Time Remaining
1 Day
2h 5m 5s
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 9
Lot Tracking Activity: 129
Page Views: 3,663
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
20% of the successful bid (minimum $14) per lot.
This lot is in: 1 -
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(Lots 80001-80142) - 10:00 PM Central Time, Saturday, February 27, 2021.
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Heritage Auctions
2801 W. Airport Freeway
Dallas, TX 75261
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*Reserve Not Met. A reserve has been posted on this lot, but no bids have met the reserve. The next bid will meet the reserve.
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Reserve Amount:
$650,000
$650,000
w/ Buyer's Premium (BP) : $780,000.00
Minimum Next Bid: ( w/ BP)