One of the most decorated franchises in baseball history continued its winning ways in Heritage’s Yankee Legends auction, emphatically closing out annual auction sales in excess of $60 million for the sports collectibles category. This event completes $17.4 million in sales since mid-November, the highest monthly tally since the 1999 Barry Halper auction. 

Key Yankees documents broke the bank during the December 10, 2017 auction, with Lou Gehrig’s 1931 Yankees contract commanding $216,000 and Derek Jeter’s 1992 scouting report – the earliest article of Yankees ephemera relating to the dynamic player – finding a new owner at $102,000.

Autographed baseballs also set exciting new auction prices. Five signed balls soared past the $100,000 mark in spirited online bidding, most notably a $228,000 result for a 1915 Eddie Plank single signed baseball, second only to Heritage’s mark of $388,375 for a PSA/DNA Mint+ 9.5 Babe Ruth single sold in 2012. Fellow Dead Ball Era legend “Shoeless Joe” Jackson followed close behind on a multi-signed ball that commanded more than $171,000.

“This has been the busiest period in our history,” Chris Ivy, director of Sports Collectibles at Heritage said of the months spent in preparation for this special three-auction sequence. “It’s gratifying to see all that hard work pay off. To see confirmation that the market can absorb this high volume of elite material.”

Mickey Mantle game used material also registered multiple six-figure results in this exciting event, with a 1951 rookie model garnering $168,000, his 1960 World Series gamer drawing $108,000, and his 1965 game-used fielder’s glove bringing $144,000.

Additional highlights included a 1926 New York Yankees team-signed baseball and a 1927 New York Yankees team-signed baseball which both realized $120,000. As well as a 1946-1947 Babe Ruth single-signed baseball, PSA/DNA NM-MT+ 8.5 that sold for $108,000; a 1960s Jackie Robinson single-signed baseball, PSA/DNA Mint 9 which brought in $96,000; and a 1951 Joe DiMaggio All-Star game-used bat, PSA/DNA GU 10 that ended at $72,000.

Not to mention a late 1950s Yogi Berra game-used and signed catcher’s mitt, PSA/DNA Authentic which reached $50,400; the 2014 Derek Jeter final career home run (260) and career hits 3,452 to 3,255 game-used and signed bat, PSA/DNA GU 9.5 realized $43,200; and the 1915 Eddie Collins single-signed baseball to Hall of Fame umpire Tommy Connolly that ended at $38,400.