Auction Item Details
Lot 1013
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Lot Number: 1013
Description: Scarce Joe DiMaggio 1932 San Francisco Boys Club championship ring. At the age of ten years old Joseph Paul DiMaggio began playing baseball with a "softball on an asphalt diamond" as quoted in a 1936 newspaper article. DiMaggio further stated, "The Boys' Club was a hotbed of baseball interest and competition and it was through the club that I became interested in real baseball, on a real field, played with a regulation ball." Joe would continue to play sandlot ball up until high school when he temporarily abandoned baseball and took up tennis. Shortly after high school Joe's brother Vince was signed by the San Francisco Seals inspiring Joe to come back to the sport he had began in 1924. It was at this time that some friends of his started another team with the Boys Club by the name of Rossi Olive Oil. The team played in the Boys Club sponsored winter league and won the championship with young Joe DiMaggio. Joe is quoted in the 1936 article, "In the meantime my old gang had started another team at the Boys' Club. They induced me to join up. Now I was a full fledged shortstop. In our first game I got three hits in five trips." The offered ring is of sterling silver with detailed baseball graphics on both side panels. The top has a silver baseball inset on a green baseball field with "Boys Club S.F. 1932" raised lettering around the perimeter. "SFBC" initials for the San Francisco Boys' Club are positioned at the bottom of both side panels. The ring exhibits some usage and handling wear including some surface scratching. Includes a vintage Dieges & Clust ring box in which it was found with a period paper identification label affixed to the bottom with "Joe DiMaggio 11" wirtten in period black ink. The lot also includes the original 1936 news article found within DiMaggio's collection. Very early award piece which was one of the first accolades Joe DiMaggio ever received for the game of baseball: EX
Estimated Price: ($5,000.00-$7,500.00)
