Sports treasures abound in Grey Flannel Auctions’ Sept. 9 auction
Sept. 6, 2006
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Collectors can bid on museum-quality sports memorabilia in Grey Flannel’s Sept. 9 auction and start their own mini-museum at home. Close to 400 historic sports items in basketball, baseball, football, hockey and Americana will dazzle new and seasoned collectors during this sale, which is being held during the Basketball Hall of Fame's induction weekend. Real-time Internet bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
Many items worn by Hall of Famers, whose glorious contributions are marked at the museum, are in this sale. As the auction is in Massachusetts, the preview of items might as well begin with the fabled Boston Celtics. One's Celtics shrine will be well defined with a game-used and signed John Havlicek road jersey and a game-used Larry Bird game-used and autographed home jersey. Also available are triple seats from the Boston Garden, signed by all of the Celtics legends. Add assorted Bill Russell game-used gear, not the least of which are his famous low-top Celtics sneakers, and one's Celtics home exhibit is off to a very good Beantown start.
Each basketball item will come with a letter of authenticity from the Naismith Basketball Museum and Hall of Fame. The sale also features 26 historic lots from Pat Catello's life-long collection. He and his mother's passion for sports and rock 'n' roll are evident in this first of many Grey Flannel Auction segments. Catello writes passionately in the auction catalog about his love for sports, his favorite moments and collecting.
Charles Barkley, Dominique Wilkins, Joe Dumars, Geno Auriemma, Sandro Gamba and David Gavitt will be inducted a day earlier. Basketball fans, then, can score a unique double by participating in the Sept. 9 Grey Flannel auction.
Among other game-used basketball treasures are:
* Julius Erving's New York Nets game-used home jersey from 1970s;
* “Pistol” Pete Maravich's LSU shooting shirt, which bears his name;
* “Curly” Neal's Harlem Globetrotters game-used jersey;
* Earvin “Magic” Johnson's game-used jerseys with the Los Angeles Lakers (home) and his inaugural 1992 USA Dream Team jersey game-used and signed;
* A Michael Jordan home Chicago Bulls game-used jersey from 1989; and, among other items,
* The 1953 and 1959 Hall of Fame Plaques of the game's founder, James Naismith.
The names of basketball's elite, past and present, go on and on - the Big O, Hakeem, Shaq, Kobe, AI, Malone, Duncan, Garnett, Kidd . . .
While basketball takes center stage in this atmosphere, the items from the other major sports in the auction could transport any bidder to any of the great sports venues.
Catello's second-to-none Miami Dolphins collection, among other items, has been consigned to Grey Flannel Auctions. Dan Marino's complete Miami Dolphins uniform from the Oct. 15, 1993, game in which he tore his Achilles tendon leads historic football items. A team-signed helmet by the 17-0 Dolphins in 1972 promises a lot of bidding.
Catello's passion for pro football and all sports shows in this segment. Among other items from him are a game-used, signed Lawrence Taylor New York Giants jersey from 1981; game-used jerseys worn by Ray Lewis, Eric Dickerson and Deion Sanders; a game-used home Pirates jersey worn by Barry Bonds; game-used jerseys worn by the likes of Nolan Ryan, Ken Griffey and Bobby Murcer; and one of Andre Agassi's rackets used at the 2001 Australian Open. It is signed.
In other baseball news, the sale leads off with an unusual autographed ball, one signed by Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and boxing great Maxie Rosenbloom. Ruth's signature is elsewhere in the Grey Flannel sale as a single-signed ball, team-signed baseball, inaugural 1933 All-Star team ball, and a check signed twice. Other team-signed baseballs feature the 1937 Yankees, the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, the 1976 Yankees and the 1959 World Champion Dodgers.
Boston Garden seats are only a section of stadium furniture. The sale features a piece of Green Monster padding from Fenway Park; an original turnstile from Forbes Field; a pair of Ebbets Field seats; an original Forbes Field seat signed by Ralph Kiner and Bill Mazeroski; a seat from Yankee Stadium; and a figural Polo Grounds seat signed by Willie Mays, Branca and Bobby Thomson.
Among other premier baseball memorabilia, the sale offers:
* A game-used Pee Wee Reese road flannel jersey with pants from 1954;
* Tom Seaver's 1971 New York Mets game-used home jersey and a pair of pants; and
* Roger Maris's game-used glove from 1961. A signed baseball and a framed poster of Maris kicks this lot up a notch.
Pele, the greatest soccer player of any generation, is in the sale with a game-used SFC jersey from 1969.
Wayne Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers game-used, blue mesh jersey leads the way among hockey items. Game-used jerseys once worn by Ray Borque, Mark Messier, Ken Morrow, Patrick Roy, Adam Graves, Pat LaFontaine, Brian Leetch are part of the sale's hockey inventory.
Numerous Muhammad Ali items are in the auction, including a single-signed baseball, but perhaps none more important than a rare fight poster touting the February, 25, 1964, clash between him and Sonny Liston.
Even nonsports collectors will be able to compete in the Grey Flannel sale. An abundance of Americana is part of the catalog. Among the rare items in the sale is a 1936 Luce bumper car, which is widely acknowledged as a Rolls-Royce of bumper vehicles. Collectors in the red-hot movie poster market will find splendid examples promoting Johnny Weissmuller in Cannibal Attack and Pygmy Island; and an original, framed poster of Tarzan.
View the fully illustrated catalog and bid absentee or live online through www.liveauctioneers.com.
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