Page 17 - JOA-august-23

PWCC Hunt Auctions SCP Auctions
Barry Bonds’ 1999 Fleer Ultra A Babe Ruth baseball bat he used about A 1911 T205 Gold Border (Piedmont) Christy
Masterpiece one-of-one card sold 103 years ago sold to a private buyer for Mathewson—PSA NM-MT 8 (Only One Higher)—
for $63,000 at PWCC’s May $1.85 million, the most ever for a bat. The realized $214,579 at SCP’s 2023 Spring Premier Auction.
Premier Auction to become his previous record was $1.68 million, for another Nicknamed “Big Six,” “the Christian Gentleman,”
highest-selling trading card at Ruth bat. Part of the reason the record- “Matty,” and “the Gentleman’s Hurler,” Mathewson was
public auction, according to public breaking bat sold for so much was because it a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher who played
data sets. This record-setter is is the “only known example to offer 17 seasons with the New York Giants. At 6 ft 1 in (1.85
considered one of Bonds’ scarcest photographic corroboration,” said the m) tall and weighing 195 pounds (88 kg), Mathewson was
trading cards in existence. The auction house. “The ‘Polo Grounds’ bat, as among the most dominant pitchers in baseball history and
Masterpiece parallel features an it’s colloquially known for the stadium the ranks in the all-time top 10 in several key pitching
image of the slugger mid-swing New York Yankees played their home games categories, including wins, shutouts, and earned run
with holofoil lettering and full in until 1922, is matched to a 1921 photo of average. In 1936, Mathewson was elected into the Baseball
bleed edges. PSA graded the card a Ruth swinging it,” wrote ESPN. Hall of Fame as one of its first five members.
Near Mint 7. Barry Bonds was
one of the most gifted hitters in
baseball. As a member of the
“Killer Bees” on the Pirates, he
made the Pirates relevant for the
first time in over a decade.

Goldin Auctions
Michael Jordan’s “Flu Game” sneakers auctioned
for $1.38 million this June at Goldin Auctions. The
Grey Flannel Auctions infamous “Flu Game” was Game 5 of the 1997
The autographed NHL jersey that was worn NBA Finals. Despite being ill with what some say
Heritage Auctions by Wayne Gretzky when he recorded his last was actually food poisoning, Jordan scored 38
Boston Red Sox immortal Ted NHL point sold for $715,120 with Grey points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists in more than 44
Williams’ Baseball Hall of Fame Flannel Auctions in June. Gretzky wore the minutes that night to lead the Bulls past the Jazz in
record-setting No. 99 jersey while recording his
induction ring gifted to the great upon 2,857th and final NHL point as a member of Utah. Then he gave his signed sneakers to Jazz ball
his entry into Cooperstown on July 25, the New York Rangers on April 18, 1999. No boy Preston Truman, who’d curried favor with
1966, sold for $444,000 at Heritage’s other player in NHL history has reached 2,000 Jordan by bringing him applesauce before games.
three-day Spring Sports Catalog points. The jersey was displayed in Madison The Bulls went on to clinch the 1997 title in six
Auction in May. The Balfour-made Square Garden’s “Defining Moments” Museum games. Truman held onto the shoes for 15 years
ring still in its original presentation from 2016 to 2019, but this auction is the first before consigning them to Grey Flannel Auctions in
box realized more than four times time it was offered publicly. It was the highest 2013; when they sold for $104,765, it demolished
what it brought in 2012 during an sale price for a U.S.-based hockey jersey, the record for game-worn shoes across sports. Ten
auction of Williams’ memorabilia held eclipsing Mike Eruzione’s 1980 “Miracle On years later, the same sneakers have appreciated by
at Fenway Park. more than 1,200%.
Ice” jersey that sold for $657,250 in 2013.
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