Hunt Auctions Has Big Event During Baseball All-Star Week in Los Angeles – BitcoinEthereumNews.com

It was one of the most famous baseball moments in the sport’s long history, when New York Giants’ lanky outfielder and third baseman Bobby Thomson drove a 0-1 Ralph Blanca fastball into the polo field Left field represented a three-run homer that sealed the victory in the 1951 National League pennant.

“Giants win the pennant!” sports announcer Russ Hodges screamed several times as Thomson rounded the bases before jumping on home plate and was mobbed by his Giants teammates, including Hall of Famer Willie Mays, when Thomson He was on deck when connected to “Shot Heard ‘Round the World”.

“If you’re a baseball fan or a Giants fan, it’s there,” said David Hunter, president of Hunter Auctions.

TUESDAY IN LOS ANGELES — The 2022 All-Star Game will be at Dodger Stadium — Hunt Auctions will host its signature event at the Los Angeles Convention Center (and online): the 2022 All-Star Auction featuring a plethora of sports memorabilia, including Thomson’s The pair of cleats worn when hitting 51 home runs.

“One of the shoes hit home plate (at the polo field),” said Hunter, who has been in the souvenir business for more than 30 years. “It’s one of those moments that’s such a famous story that will be talked about even decades from now.”

Despite inflation concerns and the turmoil of the past two years, the memorabilia business continues to attract big money, with Hunter saying prices for the famous baseball craft “do nothing but rise.”

“It’s great to see the industry mature,” Hunter said. “This memorabilia, especially historical artifacts, is almost better understood as an asset class. Happily, (projects) are gaining traction in the general market as a remarkable investment class.”

The upcoming auction will feature the Stoneham family’s vast treasure trove. Charles Stoneham and his son Horace owned the Giants for 57 years (1919-76), a period that included John McGraw’s managerial tenure, and the subsequent Mays era and the club’s 1954 World Series Champion. After the 1957 season, Horace Stoneham famously moved the Giants west to San Francisco. One of the other auction items is the 1972 Metz home and away Giants uniforms.

Mays’ final season with the Giants was in 1972, when he was traded to the Mets in early September of that year.

“The Stoneham family’s collection is very prestigious and we are proud to be a part of it,” Hunter said. “From an authenticity standpoint, it’s ideal, it’s the pinnacle. What you want is the first primary source. I’ve never collected so many items.”

The authenticity factor in the souvenir business has been at the heart of several past scandals in the industry. Bill Mastro of Mastro Auctions was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2012 on charges that included Mastro tampering with the legendary Honus Wagner T206 trading card. In March 2015, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced that Mastro had been sentenced to 20 months in federal prison for his participation in a bidding scam.

The industry has seen a recent surge in the modern card category, although Hunter said the segment has pulled back during the pandemic. However, older baseball and sporting goods will only continue to gain popularity and value.

Last fall, Hunt Auctions teamed up with renowned auction house Christie’s for a baseball memorabilia event that sold more than $150,000. It’s a far cry from what Hunt in the early days of the industry called “the mall show environment, the baseball table show.” There’s nothing wrong with that. This is where I started. “

“The key to our foray into sports is that I think the potential growth in sports-related handicrafts is much higher than in the fine art category, the humble china or furniture category,” Hunter added. “There are also a lot of people who love sports. We’ve partnered with Christie’s, and it’s one of our most successful sales ever. You walk up to 30 Rock Plaza and look up, and there’s a 40-foot picture of a Babe Ruth ball we’re selling. . It fits nicely with the Van Gogh painting next to it.”