Sports Media Report
After a bidding war with a total of 32 bids in the final two days, the 1955 major league contract that Ted Williams signed with the Boston Red Sox sold for $48,456 as the leading seller on the Steiner Sports Memorabilia “Spring Fever” auction which concluded last night (Sunday, May 7). The contract also included the signature of Red Sox President Joe Cronin and original revisions made by Red Sox attorney Jack Hayes.
The winning bidder asked not to be identified.
More than 1,600 were on the on-line auction block during a 33 day period. Sales for the auction totaled nearly $1 million.
Yankee Hall of Fame players from yesteryear spearheaded the next four leading bids. The $36,716 winning bid on an 8×10 photograph signed by the Yankee immortal first baseman Lou Gehrig (16 total bids) was second on the leader board, while an official American League baseball signed by iconic outfielder Babe Ruth garnered $20,206 (nine total bids). Mickey Mantle memorabilia nailed down the fourth and fifth spots: Mantle’s 10-karat gold “Career Ring” with uniform #7 in its original Balfour box sold for $16,955 (eight total bids), and a Mantle signed baseball with a personal inscription had a final bid of $12,756 (17 total bids).
“The action was fast and furious on the Williams contract during the last day,” said Steiner Sports founder Brandon Steiner. “These one-of-a-kind collectibles attract great attention, and sports collectors know that they can always find a priceless memorabilia piece in our auctions.”
Previous Steiner auctions were headlined by the uniform of Yankees pitcher Don Larsen worn during the only World Series Perfect Game in history in 1956 with a winning bid of $756,000, and a game-used glove worn by Brooklyn Dodgers immortal Jackie Robinson during the 1955 and 1956 seasons which sold for $373,000.
