In their recent house record-setting $3.6 million premier auction, Hake’s presented the third installment of the Black Ball Collection. Focused on Negro League Baseball and Latin American baseball, the collection boasts some of the rarest and most important photos of the early 20th century baseball teams.

“Comprised not only of the most significant images representing a half century of Negro League Baseball in the U.S., this discerning group of treasures also includes a number of pieces originating from the Latin American countries of Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic,” Hake’s description reads. “With just over 30 items in total, quality and rarity surely trump quantity here as this collection centered around the acquisition of career contemporary images for all 35 National Baseball Hall of Fame selectees within the Negro Leagues category.”

Baseball collectors turned out in force to bid on the photos offered in Auction #232, which closed on June 29-30, 2021, sending many into five-figure territory.

A 1937 Homestead Grays team oversize photo with Hall of Famers Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, and Raymond Brown clinched $35,046, besting the preauction estimate of $20,000. This is one of only two known photos of the team at the very beginning of their dynasty, which would continue until the mid-1940s.

A 1937 Ciudad Trujillo baseball team photo with Hall of Famers Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Cool Papa Bell achieved $29,500. The ball club was organized by dictator Rafael Trujillo who raided the Negro League for players, but it only lasted one season. This is one of just two full team photos of the ball club.

A 1932 Harrison Studios Pittsburgh Crawfords team photo with Hall of Famers Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Oscar Charleston hammered for $28,513. This is the only known surviving photograph of the ’32 team, during their second year in the Negro National League.

A 1926 St. Louis Stars real photo postcard with Hall of Famers Cool Papa Bell, Willie Wells, and Mule Suttles SGC Authentic went just beyond its estimate to realize $21,240. The team traces their origins back to 1906 when the ball club was formed as the St. Louis Giants, one of the earliest independent black barnstorming clubs in the Midwest.

A 1915 Chicago American Giants real photo postcard with Hall of Famers Rube Foster, Pop Lloyd, and Pete Hill SGC 50 VG/Ex 4 brought $19,729. A 1918 team cabinet photo of the Chicago American Giants with Foster and Hill reached $15,576. Established in 1910, the team would claim every western independents title from 1911 to 1919, losing the championship only in 1916.

These items weren’t the only heavy hitters within the baseball lots in Hake’s auction. A Babe Ruth “1915 American League Champions” Boston Red Sox rare button set a world record for any button when it achieved $70,092.

All items include the 18% buyer’s premium. Lists of the top selling items in Part I and Part II of the auction are available on Hake’s website.