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1923 World Series Babe Ruth home run ball, Mickey Mantle game-used bat highlight MLB All-Star auction
A baseball Babe Ruth slugged for his third home run of the 1923 World Series and a bat Mickey Mantle used during the 1961-62 seasons highlight the 19th annual MLB All-Star Week auction.
Presented by Hunt Auctions, the live auction, which celebrates the greatest players and teams in MLB history, will be held at Capital One PLAY BALLPARK on Tuesday, July 11.
In Game 6 of the 1923 World Series, Ruth slugged his third home run of the series into the right field bleachers at the Polo Grounds to lead the Yankees over the New York Giants and to their first world championship. The ball Ruth hit is up for public auction for the second time.
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The official National League baseball exhibits heavy use, including impact markings and a black fountain pen autograph/inscription, “Home Run Ball World Series ‘Babe” Ruth’ Oct 15, 1923.” According to Hunt Auctions, both the autograph and inscription display the formation and style appropriate to 1923. The rare ball has been in a private collection since 1988.
Hunt calls the rare professional model Mantle bat one of the “most significant” Mantle game-used bats ever offered at a public auction. The Louisville Slugger model B220 dates to the iconic 1961 season, when Mantle battled teammate Roger Maris for the AL single-season home run record, and into the early 1962 season.
Graded GU 9.5 by PSA/DNA, the bat comes with a typewritten letter denoting the model, game use, specific dates and is signed by Mantle. It has a pre-auction estimate of $150,000-$300,000.
“Based on the historic attendance and participation the Seattle region displayed when we last took part in the 2001 All-Star activities, I expect the 2023 version to exceed its predecessor,” Hunt Auctions President David Hunt said. “Each season, the Midsummer Classic brings the very best of baseball to cities and fans across the country. In a similar fashion, our annual live auction showcases the finest historic baseball memorabilia, which this year will be highlighted by several spectacular single objects and private collections. We fully expect to see several potential record setting performances befitting of baseball’s showcase event.”
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
The auction also features two single-owner collections of classic vintage baseball cards that were recently discovered and are being offered for the first time.
Mickey Rendine, an avid baseball fan growing up in the Bronx, collected Exhibit baseball postcards from the 1920s and ’30s and had them personally autographed by the likes of Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Rendine later worked in the visiting clubhouses of the New York Yankees and New York Jets.
His rare “Soap Box” baseball tobacco card collection showcases a group of more than 700 early-1900s tobacco cards. His collection was housed in a period wooden lidded box for “toilet soaps” and once included one of the iconic 1909-11 T-206 Honus Wagner cards, which was sold in the 1970s for “hundreds of dollars.” The remainder of the collection includes dozens of star players and rarities, including:
• Lou Gehrig autographed 1926-29 Exhibit baseball postcard (PSA/DNA 9 MINT; Est. $50,000-$75,000).
• Babe Ruth autographed 1926-29 Exhibit baseball postcard (PSA/DNA 7 NM; Est. $40,000-$60,000).
• Three Babe Ruth autographed 1926-29 Exhibit baseball postcards (Varying condition; Est. Range $25,000-$75,000 each).
• 1909-11 T-206 Ty Cobb Green Portrait card (SGC 2 GD; Est. $5,000-$7,500).
• 1909-11 T-206 Ty Cobb Red Portrait (SGC 3 VG; Est. $4,000-$6,000).
• 1909-11 T-206 Ray Demmitt (St. Louis; SGC 2 GD; Est. $4,000-$6,000).
• 1909-11 T-206 Bill O’Hara (St. Louis; SGC 1 PR; Est. $3,000-$5,000).
Other historic memorabilia items from private collections include:
• 1954 Ted Williams Red Sox professional model road jersey (SGC/Grob: Superior; Est. $150,000-$300,000).
• 1946 Jackie Robinson twice-autographed rookie photographic postcard (PSA/DNA 8 NM-MT; Est. $25,000-$50,000).
• 1922-23 Tris Speaker professional model baseball bat (PSA “GU 8.5; Est. $20,000-$40,000).
• 1926 New York Yankees team autographed baseball (AL Champions; Est. $25,000-$50,000).
• 1933 Babe Ruth autographed baseball bat (PSA/DNA 9 MINT; Est. $25,000-$50,000).
• Joe DiMaggio autographed 1939 World Series Game #3 home run baseball (Est. $25,000-$50,000).
• 1990 Ken Griffey Jr. “The Kid” professional model baseball bat (PSA/DNA GU 10; Est. $20,000-$30,000).
• 1994 Derek Jeter autographed Tampa Yankees professional model jersey (Photomatch; Est. $50,000-$75,000).
• 3/3/2015 Aaron Judge game-worn New York Yankees Spring Training jersey (1st in Yankee uniform and his first home run; Est. $25,000-$50,000).
• 2015 Kansas City Royals World Championship ring. (Est. $7,500-$15,000).
