Babe Ruth Red Sox Contract Fetches $1 Million At Auction
BALTIMORE (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Babe Ruth is still a big hit on the auction block.
Ruth's 1918 contract with the Boston Red Sox has sold for more than $1 million, along with other baseball memorabilia up for auction in Baltimore.
The contract was among about three dozen Ruth-related items up for auction Saturday night at the Sports Legends Museum a day after the 100th anniversary of Ruth's major league debut. The Yankees great was born in Baltimore.
Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions, told WCBS 880 that the price set a new auction record for the most spent on a sports contract. The previous record was the contract that sold Ruth to the Yankees in 1919, which fetched $997,000, Goldin said.
"I was actually not surprised," said Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions. "I knew it was a historic piece. In these type of instances, the key is you have to have more than one person interested, and we had several individuals who were interested in the item."
Goldin would not disclose the identity of the winning bidder.
A spokesman for Goldin Auctions said a recently discovered Ruth bat from 1916 to 1918 sold for $214,000. But the first ball Ruth hit over the fence at Yankee Stadium did not reach the minimum price to sell.
Among other items sold, a Mickey Mantle glove from 1965 to 1966 sold for $180,000. And a Roy Campanella MVP award sold for $180,000.
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