Sports memorabilia is big business, especially when it involves athletes who are dead and gone. It seems like every year we hear about a Honus Wagner baseball card going for an astronomical amount in an auction. Ty Cobb called Wagner “maybe the greatest star ever to take the diamond,” which is high praise indeed.
Cobb, of course, was no slouch himself on the diamond, with an impressive career as a center fielder and player-manager and some 90 major league records to his name during his career. So a piece of memorabilia from his remarkable career is a real treasure.
On Sunday night, Grey Flannel Auctions sold a bat of Cobb’s from his rookie year of 1905 for a whopping $1,074,544, ESPN reports. It’s the oldest bat of Cobb’s that we know of, and it dates back to when the Georgia Peach was 18 years old.
“The specific branding on the bat — a Hillerich & Bradsby C28 — was used from 1900 to 1905,” ESPN’s Dan Hajducky writes. “It received a PSA/DNA grade of a perfect 10, complete with a letter of authenticity.”
The bat really is a thing of beauty, and it’s in terrific condition. It looks like the bat bears Cobb’s hallmark of rubbing tobacco juice on it to keep moisture out and preserve the bat.
A rookie era Ty Cobb bat became the hobby’s latest million dollar item but it wasn’t the only Cobb bat sold in the auction. Babe Ruth memorabilia and an early Wayne Gretzky jersey were also among Grey Flannel’s biggest sellers >>> https://t.co/FuRfbwLr1e pic.twitter.com/Lqf9O8wYWe
— Sports Collectors Daily (@SportsCollector) November 15, 2022
Sports Collectors Daily reports that, according to Grey Flannel Auctions, the bat stayed in a private collection for decades. It remained out of sight of the general public until the owner passed away and the bat went to auction.
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The Cobb rookie bat didn’t fetch the highest price of any bat, but it’s one of only five to sell for more than a million. The most expensive bat was one that Babe Ruth used to hit his first home run at Yankee Stadium; it sold for nearly $1.3 million in 2004. Last year, the bat that Cobb used in the last seven seasons of his career nabbed $1.1 million, while earlier this year, Jackie Robinson’s bat from the 1948 All-Star game fetched $1.08 million.
The Georgia Peach’s 1905 bat wasn’t the only impressive item at Sunday’s auction.
“A Ruth bat dating to the 1922-1925 time period and originating in a large purchase of bats from a former Louisville Slugger employee in the 1980s, sold for $116,924 in the Grey Flannel sale while another Cobb bat, this one dating to 1924 and graded 9, sold for $207,142,” reports Sports Collectors Daily, which added, “A virtually pristine Ruth signed baseball with a steel-tip pen signature on the sweet spot graded 9 by PSA, rocketed to $357,594.”
Some other items sold for handsome prices as well.
“Several other items in the auction generated six-figure prices including an autographed game jersey from Wayne Gretzky’s first NHL season that netted $325,085, an early 1960s jersey attributed to use by Roger Maris ($244,240), a 1971 Ernie Banks Cubs road jersey ($173,102) and a circa-1937 Joe DiMaggio cap ($143,059),” reports Sports Collectors Daily.
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