I Am The Heavy Artillery: All-Star Summer: Auction

A baseball memorabilia auction, conducted by the fine folks at Hunt Auctions LLC, was held on the last day of FanFest. With pre-auction estimates on hundreds of items ranging from $100 up to $250,000, there was something up for bid at every price point in between. Much of what went onto the auction block that day was of the rare, one-of-a-kind, museum-quality variety. The day before the auction, I perused the display cases hopeful for finding low-budget pieces of memorabilia I might want for my own humble collection.

On the morning of July 14 - auction day and the day of the 86th Midsummer Classic - Lou and I staked out a prime viewing spot at the back of the room. We acquired nothing but information and experience and who can put a value on that?

Here is one item that was well beyond my budget, a gold Longines pocket watch and presentation box given to Cincinnati Reds pitcher Bucky Walters in honor of him being named the 1939 National League MVP. William Henry "Bucky" Walters played 11 years for the Redlegs, from 1938 to 1948. His Major League career began in 1931 as a third baseman with the Boston Braves. In 1934 and '35, playing for Philadelphia (NL), Walters was converted into a pitcher. Traded to the Reds during the 1938 season, Bucky went 11-6 for the Reds. For Cincinnati's National League pennant-winning season in '39, Bucky compiled a record of 27-11, leading the NL in strikeouts (137) and leading the Majors in wins (27), ERA (2.29), complete games (31) and innings pitched (319). His Longines watch sold for $27,000. I placed no bids.

For the Reds 1940 World Championship season, Bucky Walters went 22-10. His 22 wins paced the NL as did the 29 complete games and 305 innings he threw that season. Bucky led the Majors in '40 in with his 2.48 ERA. In 1941, he went 19-15 while again leading the League in complete games (27) and innings pitched (302). Bucky's last great season with the Reds came in 1944 when his win-loss record for the year stood at 23-8.

According to what I learned while viewing Bucky Walters' Longines watch, in the 1920s and 1930s players were permitted to select the type of award they were to be presented with when winning a League MVP. This was news to me. Approximately five minutes after becoming aware of this fact, I went agog when seeing in the neighboring display case Ernie Lombardi's National League MVP award for 1938:

A Browning Arms Company 12 gauge shotgun!

Must. Have. Lombardi. Shotgun. was all I could hear booming in my ears. But then the $25,000-$35,000 auction estimate crushed my hopes, dreams and aspirations. I mentioned in All-Star Summer: HOF Exhibit that you really must read what Bill James had to write about Ernie Lombardi. A truly amazing sports figure, blessed with exceptional talent and achieving tremendous success but also an individual dogged for decades by unfair criticisms. After his playing career - which ended where you might least expect - Lombardi disappeared from public life for many years, people in baseball had assumed he'd long since passed away until... well, you'll need to read the book to find out where he was discovered and what happened after Lombardi re-entered public life. The Lombardi shotgun sold for a cool $20,000.

World Series, League Championship and All-Star team rings also were up for bid.

Not a player ring, this 1990 Cincinnati Reds World Champions ring lacked the diamonds and rubies of, say, Barry Larkin and Jose Rijo. Still, the ring fetched a sale price of $5,500. With each passing year, World Series rings become larger and more flashy and I have an obvious bias for the Reds but I think this is just about the best-looking World Series ring. Diamond wishbone "C," red ruby background. Sharp! when you have the opportunity, check out the full-bling version of this '90 ring that Eric Davis had made for himself; he wears it often and it is something to behold.

And how about the Babe Ruth Award for Outstanding Batting Achievement given to Peter Edward Rose?! With a pre-auction range of $50,000 to $75,000, it sold for a bargain at only $32,000. This hardware could be worn to work every day! Just imagine, you'd be the envy of.... ummm.....

There were, of course, hundreds upon hundreds of non-Cincinnati Reds items up for bid, too.

In an auction jam-packed with impressive memorabilia, this collection of WW2 Naval aviation uniforms, etc. from Boston Red Sox shortstop Johnny Pesky generated much interest. Pesky was a career .307 hitter, and was a teammate and friend of Ted Williams. This lot of items rightly exceeded its pre-sale estimate and entered some bidder's collection for $2,000.

In the world of collecting, each of us has our own personal area(s) of interest and range of expertise. As such, some things will catch the eye of one collector as being exceptional or rare or valuable that may not stand out to others. Some things may be exceptional or valuable or of interest only to a select few, or one. Among the lessons learned from junk collectors/television personalities Mike Wolfe (pronounced "Woof"), Frank Fritz and the lovely but tattooed beyond all recognition Danielle is that the time to buy a rare and/or unique item is when it's right in front of you. You may never again have the opportunity to acquire such an item and the cost of acquisition, premium though it might be, has to be accepted.

The auction item which first caught my eye and which I returned to most often was lot #262, below:

A brass presentation plaque, more than a foot across, given by the United Nations Command Head Quarters in Korea to Joe DiMaggio for, one presumes, services performed as part of a USO tour during the war. Although not stated, there may somewhere exist a clay model, perhaps an artist's proof. But this must certainly be a one-of-its-kind item.

As many of you know, Mr B served in Korea during the Korean War. Growing up a baseball fan in the Boston area during the 1930s and 1940s, Dad and his pals would on occasion take in a day of Red Sox baseball at Fenway Park or Braves baseball at Braves Field, for they were mostly day games back then, to root-on Ted Williams or Warren Spahn. Teddy Ballgame was and remains Mr B's all-time favorite ballplayer. I'd like to see my good friend Kuertz try to persuade Mr B that Zack Cozart is a better hitter than Ted Williams. Dad has seen them both. During the 1930s, my Italian grandfather would only deign to spend for baseball tickets what little Great Depression-era money the family had when Joe DiMaggio and the New York Yankees came to town to play the Sox. Dad has seen every baseball player to play the game, National and American Leagues, since the mid-to-late 1930s (minus a few cups of coffee) and despite his favoritism for Ted Williams, Mr B will also readily tell you that the Yankee Clipper is the greatest player he ever saw. [In the 1940s, Dad and his school friends would skip school, take the train to NYC for a day game at Yankee Stadium, or the Polo Grounds, or Ebbets Field to watch the Yankees and Giants and Dodgers play and, thanks to a faster pace of play in those days, be back home in the afternoon so as to not arouse suspicions of having skipped out.]

With all these familial experiences knocking around in the deepest recesses of my memory, I felt this was an auction item I needed to monitor closely and, American Pickers credo in mind, be ready to bid upon if the opportunity for my meager purchasing power surfaced. The estimated pre-sale range was for $1,000-$2,000. If realized, that would be to dear a price for me and - at any rate - I wasn't carrying around with me that kind of jack at the All-Star Game FanFest. But if it could go for less....?

From my limited experience with auctions, I understand you have to set a firm limit and not allow yourself or your bankroll to be swept up in the moment. The bidding was tepid yet when the asking surpassed the few hundred I had in my pocket it became, for me, a moot point.

Frustratingly, the DiMaggio plaque sold for about half it's minimum estimate, going for $550. Some attentive bidder with initiative got a steal. My compliments.

The majority of items up for bid at the All-Star Game FanFest auction came from the collection of Johnny Bench. JB was in the house!

Lou took a few dozen photos of the All-Century Team catcher. And why wouldn't you?

As the Hunt Co. auctioneers worked their way through the catalog, JB moved to take a seat in the front row:

From our vantage point at the back of the room, Lou was able to zoom-in his camera lens and take photographs of the catalog's pages as Johnny perused through them.

Here, Johnny examines some of his own All-Star Game rings as they were being auctioned. Bench donated the items from his collection as a means to raise money in order to benefit the Johnny Bench Foundation. For whatever purpose that seeks to assist. The protection of blue emus?

The biggest item, in terms of its physical size, which crossed the auction block from the JB Collection was the nearly life-sized painting of Bench by noted painter Leroy Neiman. It did not sell, evidently failing to reach its reserve price.

During the proceedings, a woman walked up to Johnny Bench and handed him a note.