Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory Live Auction
Saturday, November 16 at 10:15am ET
Welcome to the online catalogue for The Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory Live Auction.
Online pre-bidding for Live Auction Lots 1-526 ends Friday, November 15th at 10:00pm ET. Pre-bids/ceiling bids left at huntauctions.com will be executed during the live auction on November 16th 10:15am ET. After online pre-bidding closes on our website, the auction will move to the live format, with bidding available via telephone, absentee, in person and online interactively via Invaluable (see below). If you wish to phone bid during the Live Auction please call 610-524-0822 or email info@huntauctions.com before November 16th. Please note, you do not have to pre-bid in order to bid during the live auction. Online Only lots 527-end, close on Saturday, November 16th at 9pm ET with bidding continuing for 30 minute intervals. Bidding for lots 527-end is only available online at huntauctions.com
If you have any trouble bidding on auction day, November 16th, please call our office at 610-524-0822 so we can assist you as quickly as possible.
Live Interactive Online Bidding will be available to all registered Hunt Auctions bidders.This bidding platform will provide Hunt Auctions bidders the ability to participate with real time interactive online bidding during the live auction. The interactive bidding will be powered by Invaluable and may be accessed via a link that will be available closer to the date of the auction. Bidders must have a valid Hunt Auctions username and current email address to bid interactively online during the auction. Please note, unless you have already received premiere bidding status and plan to bid live online for item(s), $40,000 is the total bidding limit, you will need to be preapproved as such.
Stuart Frederick Collection
Lots 105-136 and 559-583 originate from the personal collection of Stuart Frederick. Stuart has not only been a valued client to Hunt Auctions but he is a dear friend. Stuart is well known within the hobby as one of the leading collectors of Mickey Mantle and related New York Yankees memorabilia. If you’ve ever heard someone at a show ask a dealer “Do you have any new Mantle items?”, then you have likely met Stuart. His collection is incredibly diverse yet amazingly consistent with regard to quality and condition grade. Separately, Stuart embodies all that is good with this hobby. He has always been willing to share his knowledge is a collaborative manner and is focused on the items themselves rather than on their value or grade. We are extremely proud to announce that the Stuart has selected our company to offer his personal collection which will be sold over a period of numerous
auctions in the coming months.
The Personal Collection of John Ross
Lots 1-69 and 527-558 originate from the personal collection of John Ross. John was a long time hobbyist whose travels with his wife Priscilla led to the curation of a truly amazing collection of vintage memorabilia. John simply had an eye for quality and did so in certain categories long before the hobby recognized as much. As much as John’s keen eye and knowledge of the hobby is certainly to be revered he was also a kind and generous man who always shared information with others and genuinely cared for those of us who were lucky enough to call him a friend. On a personal note, John and Priscilla had ben some of the very first individuals to attend our live auction events several decades ago. I am extremely appreciative of everything that John did for me and this company to which I can only humbly extend my thanks and sincere condolences to John’s family given his recent passing. The collection will be sold over a series of auctions in the coming months with the sincere wish that these items can be well cared for by another generation of hobbyists just as John did.
Orlando Cepeda Collection
Lots 70-104 and 700-781 originate from the personal collection of Orlando Cepeda. The “Baby Bull” terrorized pitchers during the 1960-70s era as one of the most feared sluggers in the game. His career with the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants earned Cepeda selection to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. These items are being offered for the first time publicly directly by the Cepeda family.
The Personal Collection of Rutherford Hayes Jones
Lots 137-168 originated from the personal collection of Rutherford Hayes Jones. Mr. Jones was a pioneer in an untold part of history in the District of Columbia where he served as business manager for “Washington Giants Base Ball Club”. He partnered with William J. Edelin and Aaron Gaskins to incorporate the Washington Giants to which Notary Public David Rothschild documented as one of the earliest African American teams of its type predating the Negro League teams of the 1920-30s era. The District of Columbia Entertainment License for American Legion Park amount paid was $5.00. The history of African American participation in organized baseball dates back to the 1870s era with Bud Fowler and subsequently in 1885 when the Cuban Giants team was formed. However, from the late 1880s up until Rube Foster formed the Negro National League in 1920 there was a period of African American related baseball that has largely been lost to history. The Rutherford Hayes Jones Collection stands as one of the most important archives of materials with relation to formative period of organized baseball within the African American Community. Team such as the Philadelphia Giants, Washington Giants, and Brooklyn Royal Giants all are represented within the collection joining others such as the Chicago Leland Giants and St. Louis Giants as the forerunners to the Negro National League and Eastern Colored League of the 1920s period. The scarcity of such archives simply cannot be overstated due to a number of reasons including limited original production, fragility, and small number of organized African American team during the period. The items within the Rutherford Hayes Jones Collection have resided within the Jones’ family and are being offered publicly for the first time. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the collection will benefit the Negro League Legends Hall of Fame, Inc. 501 c 3 Non-profit.
The Personal Collection of Ted Williams
It is with both great pride and an element of sadness that we present this group of materials from the personal collection of Ted Williams. Around the time of the early 2000s I had the pleasure to become acquainted with Ted Williams’ daughter, Claudia and her husband Eric. We developed a trusting relationship that grew over time and culminated in a historic auction event held at Fenway Park in Boston in 2012 that remains today one of the most important single owner auctions in the history of our industry. Equally of note, we became great friends. The trust that Claudia bestowed upon myself and our company was unwavering and humbling. We are extremely proud of our reputation as the leader in the representation of player related collections to which Ted Williams is undoubtedly among the most important. Looking back, it is hard to believe that auction took place over ten years ago.
Claudia suddenly passed away last December. I was completely stunned. She was just 52 years of age. Not surprisingly, in recent years Claudia had fulfilled her calling to work in the healthcare field as a nurse practitioner which brings me great comfort to know that she was able to realize that noble goal. To Claudia’s husband and my dear friend Eric, words are simply not enough to abate your loss but I can only hope that the memories you have will serve as a blessing for years to come. To Claudia, please rest easy knowing that you lived your life with a sense of dignity and kindness that would undoubtedly make your father and family proud and I am sure he was waving to you as you came out of the woods to finish your race. The items we now present are those which Claudia cherished and reserved for her personal collection. Please note that for PSA/DNA encapsulated items the holder labeling will feature special “Williams Family Collection” pedigree titling. As we present these additional materials from the Williams Collection, it is with the same intent that Claudia had entrusted us with back in 2012 that they be enjoyed by the adoring fans of her father and to continue to enhance his legacy.
Preview Exhibition and Free Appraisal Fair
Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory
800 W. Main St | Louisville, KY 40202
Ph: 877.775.8443
Thursday, November 14th 9:00am - 5:00pm
Friday, November 15th 9:00am - 4:00pm
Live Auction
Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory
800 W. Main St | Louisville, KY 40202
Saturday, November 16th at 10:15am ET
Bidding Inquiries:
Hunt Auctions
256 Welsh Pool Road | Exton, PA 19341
Ph: 610.524.0822 | Fax: 610.524.0826
info@huntauctions.com