Lot 719. 32 Historic Limited Editions Z Silk Cachet First-Day Covers with Babe Ruth. All of these envelopes were postmarked in Chicago on July 6, 1983, the day the 20-cent postage stamp was first issued by the U.S. Postal Service. Each cachet has artwork depicting an aspect of Ruth’s life or career. The artwork, primarily by Joseph Catalano, depicts Ruth with both the Yankees and Red Sox and in civilian settings. This collection includes 28 different scenes. Nm-m.
Winning Bid $30.
Lot 720. 4 Books Babe Ruth Books – a “Smitty” Comic, Tom Meany and Lee Allen Biographies. A 1920 novel, “The ‘Home Run King’ or How Pep Pindar Won His Title,” is attributed to Ruth. This A. L. Burt Co. hardback is water stained and complete; f, no dust jacket. The biographies are: “Babe Ruth: The Big Moments of the Big Fellow,” 1951, vg-ex book and dust jacket; and Allen’s “‘Babe Ruth: His Story in Baseball,” 1966 ex-library copy with the dust jacket adhered to the book, damage to a blank page inside and some library markings. The most entertaining book may be Walter Berndt’s 1929 “Smitty at the Ball Game.” Ruth shares the cover of the 86-page hardback with “Smitty,” a popular comic strip character that Berndt drew for more than 50 years. Vg hardback with minor writing on the front cover. The scarce dust jacket is present. It is split in half along the spine and shows tape and water damage.
Winning Bid $15.
Lot 723. New York Yankees Memorabilia. 1. Cloth 4” patch commemorating Yankee Stadium, 1920-2008. Nm-m. 2. Cloth 5” patch for the 2008 All-Star Game played at Yankee Stadium. 3. Yankee Stadium Club matchbook, complete with all the matches, vg-ex. And 4. 1998 Pinnacle Mint Collection1.25” Andy Pettitte “coin,” vg-ex.
Minimum Bid $10.
Lot 724. 1974 Willard Mullin “The Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds 22” x 28” Lithograph. Widely recognized for his “Brooklyn Bum,” Mullin also created a figure personifying the Reds’ “Big Red Machine” of the 1970s. This colorful litho has figures, including the Bum, representing other National League teams. Production of these prints was limited to 3,000. They were issued by the Reds and Pepsi. Nm. The portfolio or folder that housed this lithograph is offered separately in Lot 725.
Winning Bid $68.
Lot 725. REVISED DESCRIPTION: Portfolio for Willard Mullin's “The Big Red Machine In 1974, Mullin, the Cincinnati Reds and Pepsi issued a limited-edition lithograph featuring a huge, muscled batter typifying the Reds surrounded by hapless representatives of the other National League teams. This 22” x 28” red-on-yellow portfolio or folder housed the print offered in Lot 724. It displays nicely on its own. The back contains a lengthy biography of Mullin and a similarly long description of the painting used for the lithograph. The background color is a medium-to-dark yellow, without the variation in shading evident in our photo. The image of the player is free of creases, which do appear in the upper left and right and, in a very minor way, in the lower left and right. Light foxing or soiling affects the lower one-quarter and is most pronounced in the lower left. The back has corner creases, minor foxing along some edges, a section of tape 2” long in the center at the top well away from the descriptions and a tiny area of paper loss above the tape.
Winning Bid $25.
Lot 730. Crosley Field Signed Etching by Noted Cincinnati Artist Caroline Williams. Crosley Field was home to the Cincinnati Reds from 1912-70. Williams was a highly regarded sketch artist at the “Cincinnati Enquirer” from 1932 until her death in 1988 at the age of 80. The 9.5” x 7.5” image of the ball park is matted and framed to 15.25” x 12.25”.
Winning Bid $40.
Lot 731. Crosley Field Print by George Longfellow, “Cincinnati Enquirer” Illustrator. The print of the pen and ink drawing, signed by Longfellow, is framed without glass to 20.5” x 26.5”. It has some border wrinkles. The image area is 13” x 18”, including Longfellow’s autograph, and the print would benefit from matting an reframing. Longfellow has been a member of the “Enquirer” staff for 24 years.
Winning Bid $30.
Lot 732. Bill Purdom 1992 Lithograph, “Last Crosley Pitch.” The Cincinnati Reds called Crosley Field home from 1912-70, when it was replaced by Riverfront Stadium. Purdom’s autographed 21 5/8” x 29 5/8” print, #195 of 600, shows Bobby Bonds about to bounce to the box to end the final game played there – on June 24. Tito Fuentes is in the on-deck circle, the Reds’ Wayne Granger on the mound and Johnny Bench behind the plate. The other Reds visible are third baseman Tony Perez, shortstop Woody Woodward, left fielder Bernie Carbo and center fielder Bobby Tolan. Powered by back-to-back eighth-inning home runs by Lee May and Bench, the Reds defeated Juan Marichal and the Giants, 5-4. The print is nm-m and framed.
Winning Bid $138.
Lot 733. 1973 Cincinnati Reds Big Red Machine Catcher’s Glove Bourbon Decanter. From Hoffman Distilling of Kentucky, this decanter is as much as 11” tall, including the baseball on top, 9.5” across and 3.75” deep. The 1973 Reds fielded such stars as Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, Ken Griffey and George Foster. The Big Red Machine dominated the National League in the first half of the 1970s, winning four pennants and two World Series. Nm-m with the Big Red Machine logo on the front and the Reds’ mascot logo on the back.
Winning Bid $138.
