Babe Ruth's bat, ball called to auction before All-Star Game

EXTON, PA (Gary Rotstein) - David Hunt held a brown bat that belonged to Babe Ruth in one hand and a dark-tanned baseball slammed by the Bambino in the other.

"It's going to be a race between the two of these," he said, to see which item fetches the biggest six-figure price in an auction the day of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

The game on July 11 will bring not only one of the greatest groups of baseball talent assembled in Pittsburgh at one time, but among the most valuable collections of sports memorabilia the city has ever seen. Hours before players wearing the names Pujols, Rodriguez and Thome on their backs take the field at PNC Park, merchandise bearing the signatures of Ruth, Gehrig, Clemente, Stargell and other legends will be sold to bidders.

Mr. Hunt, president of Hunt Auctions Inc., based in Exton, Chester County, visited Pittsburgh yesterday with a sample of memorabilia his company will sell at the FanFest portion of all-star festivities. The company auctioned about $1.5 million in merchandise at last year's all-star game in Detroit, including Roberto Clemente's Silver Bat Award from 1965 for $99,000. It recently sold a collection of items that belonged to the late Joe DiMaggio for more than $4 million.

Live bidding at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center starts at 10 a.m. July 11, with an auction of about 600 "lots," which can mean individual items worth hundreds or thousands of dollars or a collection of related items. The company will also run a silent auction of less valuable memorabilia on the first four days of FanFest, July 7-10, and appraise at no charge any baseball-related souvenirs that FanFest attendees bring with them.

That appraisal service means longtime Pittsburghers whose family members were collectors and baseball fans might want to rummage in attics, closets and basement boxes for hidden treasure. A Detroit family found two baseballs under a bed last year, one signed by the 1934 Detroit Tigers and the other by the 1934 New York Yankees, which were deemed by appraisers to be worth some $5,000 combined.

Such finds, however, pale in comparison to the Ruth-signed bat and ball that will be displayed and sold this year.

The bat's estimated value is $150,000 to $250,000, according to Mr. Hunt, but it's also uncertain since it's never been sold before. The Yankees slugger possibly used the 47-ounce hickory stick to hit his then-record 59th home run in 1921. (Ruth set a new record by hitting 60 in 1927.) There is some confusion relating to a similar Ruth bat from 1921 at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., Mr. Hunt said, and it is assumed that Ruth used one of the bats for his 59th homer that year and the other for his 57th and 58th.

The ball bearing Ruth's signature, expected to sell for at least $100,000, was the first home run hit in an All-Star Game, at Chicago's Comiskey Park in 1933. It has belonged ever since to the family of the man who caught it, Earl Brown. Instead of having the virgin white coloring of today's new balls, it has a bronze hue. Mr. Hunt said it was probably discolored to begin with from being used and re-used in dirt and handled by players using tobacco. The natural aging process affected it further.

Because the game is in Pittsburgh, vast Pirates memorabilia will be sold along with items of national distinction. Local collector George Ryden, who is shutting down his Baseball Card Palace store in Brentwood, is using Hunt Auctions to sell many of his souvenirs. Among those are two souvenirs valued at $10,000 or more: the bat Clemente used in the 1969 all-star game, and the ball Sean Casey hit as PNC Park's first home run.

Mr. Ryden paid $9,400 for the Casey ball at auction five years ago, and Casey autographed it this year. Mr. Ryden, 58, said he is giving up possessions accumulated over 20 years because his wife died recently, and he wants to arrange a cash inheritance for his two children instead of making them responsible for his sports collection.

Several hundred bidders registered for last year's auction, but more than a thousand watched it take place, Mr. Hunt said. Attendees must also purchase regular tickets to FanFest, which Major League Baseball sponsors at each All-Star Game as a baseball theme park of exhibits, speakers, interactive games and more.

Individuals wanting to inquire in advance about appraisal of baseball memorabilia -- which Hunt Auctions will include in the auction with a consignment fee if they're significant -- may contact the firm at 610-524-0822.