Ted Williams
Ted Williams Collection tops $1 million in Louisville Slugger auction
Items from the personal collection of Ted Williams sold for more than $1 million in the 21st annual Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory live auction presented by Hunt Auctions.
The auction was highlighted by the sale of Williams’ 1946 American League Most Valuable Player award and his 1958 American League Batting Title silver bat. The MVP award sold for $528,750, the most ever for an MLB MVP Award. The silver slugger award sold for $270,250, with both awards attracting heavy bidding.
The auction, held annually around the World Series, featured more than 500 lots of historic baseball memorabilia.
The Ted Williams Collection was consigned by his daughter, Claudia, who passed away last December. It featured a variety of items spanning Williams’ playing career and post-career.
Other highlights included: Williams’ Presidential Medal of Freedom presented by George H.W. Bush, which sold for $141,000; a series of limited-edition Williams autographs (1,941), which went for $105,750; and a Williams professional model bat, circa 1940-42, for $52,875.
Other historical items in the auction included the collection of Rutherford Hayes Jones, a Washington, D.C. pioneer who served as business manager for the Washington Giants Base Ball Club, one of the earliest African American teams predating the Negro League teams of the 1920-30s. A portion of the proceeds from Jones’ collection will benefit the Negro League Legends Hall of Fame.
Highlights included: a copy of the 1907 book “History of Colored Base Ball” by Sol White, with scarce supplemental pages ($20,562); Brooklyn Royal Giants team cabinet photograph, circa 1908-10 ($11,750); 1910 Bruce Petway autographed letter with content about such players as Rube Foster ($17,625); and a Washington Giants team cabinet photograph, circa 1910 ($9,987).
The biggest surprise of the auction was a rare 1952 souvenir postcard of Hank Aaron as a rookie with the Indianapolis Clowns from the scrapbook of Ed Scott, the scout that discovered Aaron. After a prolonged bidding war, the postcard sold for $199,750, obliterating the $5,000-$10,000 presale estimate.
Other auction highlights included:
• Jackie Robinson autographed 1947-66 Exhibit postcard ($24,675).
• Babe Ruth single-signed baseball ($47,000).
• Orlando Cepeda presentational 1967 NL MVP award plaque ($18,800).
