The contract that sent Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees from the Boston Red Sox is being sold by Lelands.com.
Going once, going twice, sold. If you just happen to have millions of dollars laying around, then you could own a piece of New York Yankees and baseball history.
The contract that sent Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox to the Yankees is being sold by Lelands.com. Leland’s Josh Evans says the document that’s being sold is the original copy of the contract which was owned by then-Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert. The copy that was owned by Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold for $996,000 in 2005.
After the 1919 season, Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees for $100,000 and received a $300,000 loan from the Bronx Bombers to secure the deal, according to Darren Rovell of ESPN. Evans said he brought Ruppert’s copy for $150,000 and sold it to a collector who consigned it to this auction. That collector turned down an offer for $5 million at one point, according to Evans.
“This is the Curse of the Bambino,” Evans said. “It transcends everything. It changed America.”
The Red Sox won the World Series in 1918 but the Curse of the Bambino started after they traded Ruth. The Yankees won 27 World Series after they got Ruth. The Rex Sox weren’t able to win a World Series for 86 years after the trade. They did break the curse though by winning the World Series in 2004.
The rest was then history. Ruth hit 659 home run throughout his Yankees career to become third on the all-time homerun list with 714. He also won seven World Series titles and was part of the Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1936.
Ruth’s 1927 World Series ring, which is believed to be owned by Charlie Sheen, is also being sold. The opening bids for both items was set at $100,000 and the auction runs through June 30. It will be interesting to see whether a Yankees or a Red Sox fan buys the items.
The question now is: will the person that buys the items be cursed?
