DALLAS, TX.- Heritage Auctions' Sports category wraps up its headline-grabbing, history-making 2022 with an event worthy of the year that saw the auction house set a record for the world's most valuable sports memorabilia. And that's not just because the November 17-19 Fall Sports Catalog Auction features among its offerings a Near Mint-Mint 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card estimated to sell in the millions.

"Our team of experts has worked incredibly hard to engage with clients around the world to secure more than 3,400 unique and often extraordinary lots for this auction," says Chris Ivy, director of Sports Auctions at Heritage. "It's always a pleasure to present this material to the widest possible audience and find new homes for these collectibles. I suspect that our clients of all types will be able to find quality pieces to add to their collections in this sale, be it Hall of Fame lumber, game-used gear or rare rookie cards."

Here, among this estimable trove of sports history, is one of the most extraordinary bats ever to come to auction: Ty Cobb's J.F. Hillerich & Son game-used and signed lumber dating to the 1910-1914 seasons, during which he had a 40-game hitting streak and hit .420 and was named the American League MVP (1911), assaulted a heckler in the New York stands (1912) and became baseball's first five-figure player (1913). During this storied stretch, the Georgia Peach was known to haul this 39-ounce pock-marked slab of ash to the plate.

In fact, this bat has been photo-matched twice. In one image, taken circa 1912-1913, Cobb is at Comiskey Park in Chicago with the bat by his side; PSA/DNA's letter of authenticity notes that "the grain pattern on the front of the bat from the handle to the center brand is a perfect match." The second image in which Cobb can be seen with this legendary lumber comes from Sept. 6, 1913, when news photographer Louis Van Oeyen caught Cobb and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson each carrying three bats, this one among that historic lot.

And perhaps most significantly, this bat comes from the collection of Eddie Maier, owner of the Vernon Tigers of the Pacific Coast League and one of the earliest collectors of game-used bats. Cobb wrote on the bat itself this brief note to the man to whom he gifted the bat: "To Mr. Maier From Ty Cobb, Sept. 18th, 14." Five years later Maier sold the club to silent film star and director Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.

Another historic bat in this event comes from four decades later and the hands of Jackie Robinson, who swung this signature model Hillerich & Bradsby S100 in the 1952 All-Star Game at a soggy Shibe Park in Philadelphia on July 8. It's believed Robinson used this bat to record his only All-Star Game home run, off New York Yankees ace Vic Raschi. Robinson smashed the ball into the left-field upper deck, and kept the bat, which comes from his estate, as a souvenir.




One of the most extraordinary tools of the trade in this event comes from directly from Teddy Ballgame himself: the very glove Ted Williams wore during his final year as a minor-league Minneapolis Miller and his debut season in the sun with the Boston Red Sox in 1939 and beyond, Not only is this well-worn Rawlings photo-matched to The Splendid Splinter's bow in the bigs, and a picture of Williams wearing the glove during his legendary .406 season in 1941, but it comes from the collection of Williams' lifelong friend and Hoover High classmate Wilbert Wiley, whose daughter introduced it to The Hobby only a few years ago before it was photo-matched. The Kid, the everlasting moniker bestowed upon Williams during his first spring training with the Red Sox, even signed the thumb.

Another kid of the Say Hey variety is well represented here, too. One of the very best game-worn Willie Mays jerseys ever to appear at auction is among the centerpieces in this stacked event. It, too, is photo-matched to a Sept. 1, 1966, game at Shea Stadium, where Mays drove in the San Francisco Giants' lone run in a 2-1 loss to the New York Mets with whom Mays would sign six years later in his return to New York. It's not often said that a jersey is stunning; that's an appellation often used for art that comes to auction. But this crisp jersey with a cursive "Mays" stitched into the collar is close enough.

We go from the baseball's greatest No. 24 to the world's most famous and adored No. 23: From the Chicago Bulls' fifth championship season comes a blindingly bright white Michael Jordan home jersey with perhaps the most ironclad provenance ever. Not only is this signed 1996-97 jersey photo-matched to March 18, 1997 a United Center win over the Seattle SuperSonics during which Jordan posted 18 rebounds, his highest regular-season total but it comes with a letter from the Bulls. Its owner paid $40,000 for this jersey that sports the NBA's gold 50th anniversary logo; the recipient was the CharitaBulls, the team's charitable arm.

This auction also turns it up to No. 99 The Great One's jersey number, of course, retired by the National Hockey League after Wayne Gretzky hung up his skates in, well, '99. But for this extraordinary item, one must go to the beginning of his career: Jan. 26, 1979, to be precise, when Gretzky signed three times his World Hockey Association contract that made him an Edmonton Oiler.

The backstory behind this contract is well documented in our catalog, which notes the collapse of Gretzky's previous team (the Indianapolis Racers) and the fight that ensued over scoring the golden boy who became The Great One. In the end, this became hockey's longest contract at the time (10 years) and its most lucrative ($3 million).

There is plenty of coveted cardboard alongside the historic paperwork in this auction, among them some of the most coveted rookie cards in The Hobby.

Here among the cardboard treasures is the 2003-04 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection LeBron James Rookie Patch Autograph numbered 18/23 and graded BGS NM-MT+ 8.5, Auto 10. This has been in our consignor's collection since 2003, when he bought the card with his father's help for $5,000. Yet so beloved is this LeBron debut that one graded just a bit higher, at BGS Mint 9, holds the record for the world's most valuable basketball card ... at $5.2 million.

There's also a 2000 Playoff Contenders Tom Brady (Championship Ticket) Rookie numbered 67/100 and graded BGS NM-MT+ 8.5, Auto 10. The vintage hobbyist need look no further than a 1954 Topps Hank Aaron rookie graded PSA Mint 9; there are but two known examples graded higher. And then, of course, there are those myriad '52 Mantles that seemingly grow more valuable with each passing day.