In a little noticed sale, overshadowed by a quarter million dollar Lou Gehrig-signed passport and a million dollar Shoeless Joe Jackson bat, this past February Heritage auctioned off a Derek Jeter game used- bat from 1996 for an astonishing $150,000. That’s a price normally associated with game bats from pre-war Hall of Famers whose spent lumber was usually tossed or repurposed for bar-stool legs. By 1996, the memorabilia business had already kicked into high-gear and game-used equipment was being saved and fetching astronomical amounts.
But Heritage proved that the World Series bat was no fluke at their next auction, which I also attended in July in Cleveland. The hammer price for the earliest Derek Jeter game bat from 1995 was $50,000. Expert analysis, the catalog description declared, “would strongly suggest this was the bat used by Jeter through the first five games of his Rookie of the Year season.” Little could the original collector, who purchased the bat at a charity auction in 1996, “have known that this lanky rookie would become the first man in history to record his 3,000th hit in a Yankees uniform, or that he would become the longest-serving Yankee in history, or that he would precipitate an era of dominance in the Bronx unseen since Mickey Mantle.”
This Derek Jeter rookie card recently sold for $1625 on eBay. A Gem Mint one sold on eBay for almost... [+]
As Derek Jeter’s glorious career comes to a close, Jetermania is at an all-time high. At Yankee Stadium every at-bat occasions a standing ovation, every hit a jubilant celebration— as if he just drilled a game-winning homerun. Aside from all his endorsements, the true mark of the man’s commercial appeals lies in the value of his most valuable memorabilia. I spoke to a half dozen hobby experts about whether this is the best time to buy or sell Derek Jeter memorabilia. The tale of a rare ticket may go a long way toward answering the question.
In a February post I wrote about the Holy Grail of vintage Jeter tickets: one from his first pro game in Seattle on May 29, 1995, attended by fewer than 19,000 fans in the Kingdome Last week, Rob Kunz, a longtime collector and engineer from central New York, wrote to tell that me that he owned one. Like some super scout Kunz had the foresight to follow Jeter since he was drafted and through his minor league seasons. “A couple of days after Jeter’s major league debut, I got two [full, unused] tickets from a personal contact in the Mariners organization,” says Kunz. “Jeter was sent back down to the AAA-Columbus Clippers. After a game he played in Scranton [PA], I spotted him sitting in the passenger seat of a car. When I showed him the two tickets he rolled down the window and we agreed to make a trade. He would sign one for me and I would give him the other. This is the ticket I had sign 19 years ago.”
Rob Kunz had the foresight to acquire a full ticket from Derek Jeter's first major league game a few... [+]
While a ticket from the game in which Jeter had his first hit sold 2011 for $306, it was anyone’s guess what one from his first pro game— he went 0 for 5— would command. “With all the hype and the fact that the ticket is full and is signed, I think it would bring over $1,000,” Mike Heffner, president of Lelands Auctions predicted. “There are not many out there, but if one sells for a lot of money, they will start to emerge.”
Chris Ivy, the president of Heritage’s sports division, thought the return would be bigger. “This is a great piece and the signature is quite the wonderful ‘cherry on top,’” he explained to me. “Given the scarcity and the fact this is almost certainly one-of-a-kind due to the rookie era signature. I estimate that this could hit $5,000 and more in the right environment. It is the perfect auction piece and the timing couldn’t get much better!”
One of the world's most knowledgeable baseball ticket collectors, Dave Maus, agreed with Ivy. “I lived in Seattle 1990 to 2004; maybe I was at the game,” he said. “I certainly wouldn’t have thought anything about Jeter playing or saved anything associated with the game because of his debut. Maybe if he was some hot Mariners phenom but nobody in Seattle would have been following Yankees prospects. That’s why debut tickets are cool. Nobody knows at the time they are witness history. With Jeter stuff all major hype right now, if you want to find two crazy people to bid this up or one to buy it outright, now would be the time.” Maus estimated that Kunz could get a legitimate offer in the $1500-$2500 range.
In its Platinum Auction this past February, Heritage sold a game-used bat from Derek Jeter's first... [+]
Within hours of interviewing them, I had news to report to my sources. Through
Maus missed by half. “$4500 is a strong price but when you’re in the middle of big hyped event like Jeter’s final games, anything can happen,” he said. “It’s all timing sometimes.”
For his part, Kunz was ambivalent. “I hated to sell this piece,” he said. “I have owned it for 19 years and it is one of my favorite collectible stories.” Now that another collector owns it, he has one thing on his mind: “I wish I knew someone who knew Mr. Jeter. I have always wondered if he still has that ticket I gave him.” (Mr. Jeter, please email through Forbes, using the icon in the upper left.)
In my next post I will shed extra light on the Jeter collectible craze.
