Christie’s auction of 491 lots of baseball memorabilia from Geddy Lee‘s collection brought in $6.9 million.
Among the top selling items were:
- Babe Ruth‘s 1938 Brooklyn Dodgers jersey – $882,000
- Hank Aaron‘s 1968 Atlanta Braves jersey – $567,000
- Lou Gehrig‘s 1927 bat – $504,000
- President Herbert Hoover signed baseball – $214,200
- Beatles autographed baseball from their 1965 Shea Stadium show – $176,400
- President John F. Kennedy signed baseball – $170,100 with another one at $138,600
- Roberto Clemente signed baseball – $88,200
Geddy has spent more than 40 years collecting autographed and historic milestone baseballs, uniforms and caps, as well as artwork and memorabilia including a near complete collection of World Series programs dating back to 1903.
He tells The Athletic, “Collections need to be tended, and they need to be fed… The items I collected over these years, I collected with passion, I collected with love, and I just have too much! It’s time to share with the world again. And that’s fine… Baseballs, nobody owns them. They’re like houses. You take care of them for a while, and then they move on to the next person, the next custodian.”
[YouTube: Beth Frank] [The Athletic] [Christie’s]
