During Heritage Auctions Platinum Night Sports Auction, several six-figure sales were recorded, leading to a total of $10.7 million realized. However, it is a seven-figure result that has the sports and the art world buzzing. A 1948 original study for “Tough Call” by Norman Rockwell commanded an impressive $1.68 million.

“I need to credit my colleagues in the art division for the assist on this one. This isn’t the first time that we’ve been able to draw from other segments of our million-strong bidding clientele to benefit a Sports consignor,” Chris Ivy, director of Sports Auctions at Heritage, said.

That beneficiary was a direct descendant of famed Major League umpire John “Beans” Reardon. Reardon was the primary subject of a painting by Rockwell, that appeared in its final version on a 1949 cover of The Saturday Evening Post. Reardon’s family was under the impression the original study they owned was merely a signed print.

The noble Iron Horse Lou Gehrig’s 1937 New York Yankees home pinstriped jersey brought in a world record price of $870,000, while his 1924 rookie contract sold for $480,000. Other legendary Yankees pieces included Mickey Mantle’s 1954 jersey, which ended at $432,000, and a bat used during Babe Ruth’s first pinstriped season that reached $408,000.

Several signed prewar baseball cards realized fine results, including Gehrig ($52,800), Cobb ($33,600), and Mantle ($45,600). Negro League collectors set new pricing records for the highly-coveted Harrison Studio postcards featuring the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords, which reached $22,800 and $36,000 respectively.

Additional highlights include a 1920 “Shoeless Joe” Jackson and Buck Weaver signed baseball which sold for $240,000, a 1915 Babe Ruth rookie era original photograph by Paul Thompson that ended at $72,000, an early 1960s Paul Hornung game-worn Green Bay Packers jersey which realized $84,000, a 1936 Casey Stengel game-worn Brooklyn Dodgers uniform brought in $90,000, and a 1933-2016 Major League Baseball all-star game complete ticket run ended at $144,000.

Other results included a 1970 Ernie Banks game-worn Chicago Cubs jersey which reached $132,000, a 1915-1919 “Shoeless Joe” Jackson original photograph by Charles Conlon sold for $18,000, a 1957 Topps Johnny Unitas rookie #138 PSA realized $144,000, a 1965 Topps Joe Namath rookie #122 PSA ended at $78,000, and a 1960 Hemmets Journal Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) rookie #23 PSA reached $40,800.