Ted Williams
1927 Lou Gehrig bat, Joe DiMaggio jersey highlight Heritage Winter Platinum Auction
In 1923, a 23-year-old Lou Gehrig flashed a bit of the massive potential he would display throughout his legendary career, batting .313 with 16 home runs and 109 RBI.
A year later, Gehrig would bust out with one of the greatest seasons of his Hall of Fame career, blasting 47 home runs and driving in a league-leading 173 runs while batting .373 for the dominant 1927 Yankees. His slugging percentage that year was a career-high .765.
The bat Gehrig swung that year was a Northern White Ash from the Joseph G. Kren Bat Company of Syracuse, N.Y., the same company that supplied bats to teammate Babe Ruth. Gehrig’s lumber measured 36 inches and weighed 43.1 ounces.
The 1926-27 game-used bat, which has been signed by Gehrig and graded PSA/DNA GU 10, highlights Heritage Auctions’ Winter Platinum Night Catalog Auction Feb. 25-26.
“Game-used bats represent the tools of the trade for baseball players and we are proud to be offering lumber from many of the all-time greats in this Platinum Night Auction,” said Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage. “At the top of that list is an incredible Lou Gehrig gamer that dates from the Yankees' historic 1927 season, which Gehrig personally signed for one lucky fan. Holding this bat in your hands is the closest thing that one lucky bidder will get to being inducted into Monument Park.”
One of the two earliest known game-used bats from Gehrig sold for $1.025 million in Heritage's 2020 Winter Platinum Night Sports auction. While that bat featured side writing attributed to Gehrig, this one includes his autograph in black fountain pen.
The Gehrig bat is one of nearly 100 in the Heritage auction. Others include:
• A 1960 Ted Williams game-used-bat, PSA/DNA GU 10 used by Williams in his final season with the Boston Red Sox.
• A 1989 Ken Griffey, Jr. game-used and signed bat, PSA/DNA GU 9.5 used during Griffey’s rookie season.
• A 1961 Hank Aaron All-Star Game game-used bat that Aaron gifted to a young fan after the game.
• A 1976 Frank Robinson Game-Used Bicentennial Bat, PSA/DNA GU 10 (photo-matched)
The Winter Platinum Night auction also features game-worn jerseys, sneakers, caps and helmets worn and used by such sports legends as Michael Jordan, Mickey Mantle, Tom Brady, LeBron James, Willie Mays, Mario Lemieux, Larry Bird, James Harrison and Julius Erving.
The highlight is a photo-matched 1948 Joe DiMaggio road gray New York Yankees flannel with a black armband on its left sleeve — a tribute to Babe Ruth, who died on Aug. 16 that year after a battle with throat cancer. DiMaggio first met Ruth at a sports banquet in New York City on Jan. 24, 1938 and, 10 years later, attended his funeral.
Other DiMaggio jerseys have surfaced over the years bearing evidence of the mourners’ armband removed, but this size-44 road-gray Wilson flannel jersey, with DiMaggio's name embroidered in script inside the collar, is the only known intact survivor.
“Game-worn offerings from the heroes of the game represent some of the most desirable memorabilia in the entire sports collectibles market, and we have dozens of amazing offerings in this Winter Platinum Night sale, this DiMaggio flannel chief among them," Ivy said. “It's the centerpiece of an event filled with them, and we are honored to present this extraordinary jersey, as well as every other game-worn offering in this auction, to new owners who will cherish, protect and celebrate both them and the men who wore them.”
Other historic, game-worn jerseys in the auction include:
• The Yankees cap worn by Mickey Mantle during the historic 1961 season that included the home run race with teammate Roger Maris and ended in a World Series win.
• A photo-matched road jersey DiMaggio wore during his tenure with his hometown San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. He also signed its inside collar more than 50 years after his 1932 minor league debut.
• A 2017 Aaron Judge jersey from his rookie year photo-matched to four games and two home runs .
