What: 2017 The Bar Pieces of The Past Volume 2 trading cards
Arrives: Mid-November
Box basics: One memorabilia card per box (10 boxes per case)
What’s buzz-worthy: Super Break once again takes a look at history with a mix of cut autographs and memorabilia cards that include pieces of handwritten letters, presidential documents, land grants and more.
Keep reading for a gallery and more info.
MLB‘s founding documents are hitting the auction block this spring as SCP Auctions is handling yet another historic sale.
This time, it’s a 74-page hand-written artifact — the original constitution of The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs — that outlines its objectives. Among them are to “encourage, foster and elevate the game of baseball, enact and enforce proper rules for the exhibition and conduct of the game, to make baseball playing respectable and honorable, to protect and promote the mutual interests of professional baseball clubs and professional baseball players and to establish and regulate the ‘Baseball Championship of the United States.'”
This follows the sale of the 1857 “Laws of Base Ball” for $3.26 million one year ago today by the Laguna Niguel, Calif.-based company
A previously unknown batch of 1857 baseball documents fetched $3.26 million on Sunday via SCP Auctions, which sold a set of “Laws of Base Ball” papers — items that pre-date Alexander Cartwright‘s contributions to the game.
It’s not quite a record-holder for historic sports documents, but it’s not shabby considering its auction history. According to the Laguna Niguel, Calif.-based auction house, these documents were first found as part of a 1999 manuscript auction with minimal details in their listing and bought without them having been researched. It was tucked away after a $12,650 purchase until recently.
Dr. James Naismith‘s “Rules of Basketball” from 1891 sold for $4.3 million, while the “Rules of Soccer” from 1859 sold for $1.4 million.
Update: The documents sold for $3.26 million.
Dr. James Naismith‘s “Rules of Basketball” from 1891 sold for $4.3 million, while the “Rules of Soccer” from 1859 sold for $1.4 million.
What might previously unknown 1857 baseball documents fetch?
That’s what we’ll find out soon via SCP Auctions as a set of “Laws of Base Ball” documents from 1857 — documents that pre-date Alexander Cartwright‘s contributions to the game — will hit the market in April.
The author here is Daniel Lucius “Doc” Adams, who was the President of the New York Knickerbockers, and the documents’ origin has been researched by John Thorn, who has been the official MLB historian since 2011. The documents note guidelines such as the length of base paths, number of players on the field, a nine-inning game and more.
“When Doc Adams set to work in late 1856, none of these aspects of the game were settled,” Thorn said. “This was some seven years after Cartwright had left New York for Hawaii, never to return. For his role in making baseball the success it is, Doc Adams may now be counted as first among the Founding Fathers of Baseball.
“No earlier baseball manuscript of this significance has ever come onto the open market,” Thorn said. “In 1857, baseball made its great leap forward, and these are the documents that reveal what it was like to be present at the creation.”
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