Auction Item Details
Lot 97
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Lot Number: 97
Description: Rare 1962 Willie Mays "Babe Ruth Sultan of Swat Award" for Outstanding Batting Achievement. Brass crown shaped award was made famous by Babe Ruth who donned a similar crown during the 1920s. The award was created in 1956 by the Maryland Professional Baseball Players Association to be presented to the player with the highest slugging percentage. Willie Mays was presented with the award for the exceptional season he had in 1962 with a batting average of .304, 49 Home Runs, and a slugging percentage of .615. It was the first of two such awards Mays would win along with the 1965 honors. The crown itself has a high quality polished brass finish with embossed and incised brass lettering on the front reading, “Babe Ruth Sultan of Swat Award Presented to Willie Mays For Outstanding Batting Achievement 1962 Maryland Professional Baseball Players Association”. The six ‘points’ of the crown each retain their original colored glass gem stones inset onto baseball shaped diamond fields. The body of the crown is inscribed with Mays’ career statistics and accolades including .315 Lifetime Batting Average and 12 All-Star Game appearances. The Sultan of Swat presentational crown award has become one of the most revered in baseball most assuredly due to its link to the mythical Babe Ruth. The list of other crown award recipients reads like the Hall of Fame roll call incl. Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, and Ernie Banks. Very highly sought after figural award is one of only a handful to have entered the marketplace and without question ranks among the most significant from that small population. Measures 7” tall. Includes certificate of provenance from the Willie Mays Collection: EX-MTEstimated Price Range: ($75,000-$150,000)
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