


Here’s your chance to own a piece of Murderers’ Row,
Rare historical documents related to the sale of Babe Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees, and a Lou Gehrig high school notebook, highlight Lelands 2023 Spring Classic Auction, which runs through April 22.
Each item is expected to “break six figures,” according to a Lelands spokesman.
When the Sawx sent the larger-than-life pitcher/slugger to the Bronx Bombers in 1919, it changed the landscape of baseball history.
The barrel-chested “Bambino” slammed a then-record 714 home runs and ushered the Yankees to four World Series championships from 1920 to 1934.
The collection of must-have documents includes two of the three promissory notes issued as part of the payment for Ruth’s game-changing contract.
One $25,000 note, dated December 26, 1919, is signed on the front and reverse by then-Yankees owners Jacob Ruppert and T. L. Huston, and also on the back by Boston owner Harry Frazee.
Also featured in the nine-lot collection is the dispatch detailing why the Red Sox sold Ruth, and a letter from the Yankees to Frazee on the day the two teams consummated the deal.
The Ruth documents originated from the collection of memorabilia maven Barry Halper, which was sold by Sotheby’s in 1999, when it was purchased by the unidentified seller Lelands now represents.
They have remained in the current seller’s possession ever since.
Lelands sold Ruth’s signed contract for $2.3 million at an auction in 2017.
The auction also features a Gehrig 1920 High School of Commerce Statistics class workbook featuring 30 pages of handwritten notes — both in pencil and ink — and 22 signatures, 13 in pencil and nine in black fountain pen, according to Lelands.
The former high school was located on West 65th Street, near Lincoln Center.
Ruth and Gehrig swung the heavy lumber in the 1927 Yankees lineup dubbed “Murderers’ Row.” The batting order of Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, Ruth, Gehrig, Bob Muesel, and Tony Lazzeri is considered by many to be the best to ever play the game.
For modern-day Yankees diehards, there’s the “99” jersey worn by American League single-season home run king Aaron Judge during Games 3 and 4 of last year’s American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros. The jersey could fetch up to $50,000, a Lelands spokesman said.