A one-of-a-kind piece of baseballhistory could set a new standard for values of the sport’s most historicdocuments on Dec. 8, when the rookie-year baseball contract of Hall of FamerChristy Mathewson is sold by Memory Lane Inc., of Tustin, Calif. The companyis considered one of the premier sports collectible auctions houses in thecountry.

Mathewson is considered one of the greatest baseball players of all timeand was one of the five original inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame in1936. Mathewson spent 17 seasons in the big leagues, where he won a total of373 games, the third-highest total in baseball history. He won 20 or moregames in an astonishing 12 consecutive seasons and posted four 30-win seasons.

The contract is from the 1900 season. Because Mathewson died in 1925,authentically signed items from the baseball legend are extremely rare. Thisparticular item was originally acquired by Barry Halper, a former minorityowner of the New York Yankees, and one of the most legendary collectors ofbaseball historical memorabilia in the country. Halper acquired this raredocument direct from the wife of Mathewson’s late son. The contract comes witha letter from Halper stating the circumstances in which he acquired thedocument. (Halper passed away in 2005).

Vintage baseball contracts have become more sought after in recent yearsby collectors, and that demand has resulted in escalating values for theitems. The record for player-signed contracts is the $996,000 price realizedfor Babe Ruth’s 1919 rookie-year contract, which sold in June of 2005.Collectors will be watching the sale of this Mathewson contract closely to seewhere it ranks among the highest-priced contracts sold to date.

More information about this unique piece of baseball history can be foundonline at http://www.memorylaneinc.com.

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Posted: 11|29|07 at 9:24 am. Filed under: Auction News.