Ruth, Cobb Bats Highlight Heritage Auction

A road gray Yankees jersey attributed to use in the 1930s by Lou Gehrig and a pair of bats belonging to two baseball icons will be among the premier items in a sale conducted by Dallas-based Heritage Galleries October 26 and 27.

The partially restored jersey carries a pre-sale estimate of at least $300,000.

"Hall of Fame jerseys and equipment have flooded our offices for this auction," Auction Director Chris Ivy said. "We have baseball jerseys from Hank Aaron and Bob Gibson, basketball jerseys from Pete Maravich and Nate Archibald, football jerseys from Roger Staubach and Gale Sayers and hockey jerseys from Ray Bourque and Wayne Gretzky."

Heritage also has the golf bag used by Tiger Woods during his 1997 Masters victory. A history of the bag is included, from its original donation by Woods to a charity after he was forced to miss a commitment because of new obligations associated with the historic win.

Unique autographed pieces in the sale include an oversized photo signed for the Yankees bat boy in 1927 by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and a 1941 Puerto Rican League baseball contract featuring one of the few authentic Josh Gibson autographs known to the hobby. Other scarce signatures feature Amos Rusie and Howie Morenz.

Some awards once presented to players will wind up in the hands of collectors when the hammer falls. "We're fortunate to have two Rookie of the Year awards," said Ivy, pointing to gleaming treasures presented to Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown and baseball's Hit King Pete Rose. "We also have the plaque awarded to Wilt Chamberlain in recognition of being named the 1965-66 NBA Player of the Year."

Heritage will present a new bidding format for the trading card portion of the auction, which will end on Friday, October 26th in an Extended Bidding format, each lot closing individually after thirty minutes of bidding inactivity following the 11 PM CT cut-off. Heritage claims the upcoming auction will be its "finest offering yet of rarities, high-grade single cards, complete sets and sheets," according to a news release.

"There are so many incredible card lots within this auction that it's tough to know where to start," explained Ivy. "One obvious theme is high-grade complete sets, with fantastic examples of 1933 Goudey, 1952 Small Bowman Football, 1957 Topps Baseball and 1959 Fleer Ted Williams.

The auction also includes an uncut sheet of 1968 Topps 3-D baseball cards.

Enlargeable, full-color images of each and every lot are currently available on the company's website.