Baseball cards sell big at auction Baseball cards sell big at auction ADVERTISING TOLEDO, Ohio — The discovery of century-old baseball cards in an Ohio attic isn’t going to make anyone super-rich even though it’s being called one of the
Baseball cards sell big at auction
TOLEDO, Ohio — The discovery of century-old baseball cards in an Ohio attic isn’t going to make anyone super-rich even though it’s being called one of the most exciting finds in the history of sports card collecting. That’s because the cards and the money are being evenly divided among 20 cousins.
A sampling of the treasure trove that had been untouched for 100 years was sold Thursday night during the National Sports Collectors Convention in Baltimore. The 37 baseball cards featuring the likes of Hall of Famers Ty Cobb, Cy Young and Honus Wagner fetched $566,132 in brisk online and live bidding. They were expected to bring about $500,000.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage Auctions, which conducted the sale. “The room was packed.”
He said two lots were sold to Internet bidders and the third went to a live bidder. The auction house declined to identify the winning bidders.
Family member Karla Hench, who helped find the cards, said the cards brought “fantastic prices and we’re very excited that we can all share in this find. It’s like a gift from our grandfather to keep passing on.”
What made this find so special was that the 700 cards were nearly pristine, the finest examples anyone had ever seen from an extremely rare series given out with candy around 1910.
The best of the bunch was sold in three lots — one, which sold for $286,800, was a nearly complete E98 set, the name of the the series the cards were issued under, and another was a Honus Wagner card that was judged to be in perfect condition by Professional Sports Authenticator, a company that grades cards on a 1-to-10 scale based of their condition. It brought $239,000.
Tigers’ Young hopes to reach deal in NYC case
NEW YORK — Detroit Tigers outfielder Delmon Young is trying to work out a deal with prosecutors in his hate-crime harassment case, his lawyer said Thursday.
Young appeared briefly in a Manhattan court Thursday for an update on the misdemeanor case. He’s accused of yelling anti-Jewish epithets at a group of tourists, tussling with them and tackling one to the ground in April, when the Tigers were in town to play the New York Yankees.
His lawyer, Daniel J. Ollen, said after court that he and prosecutors are discussing a potential “disposition that’s acceptable to both parties.” The Manhattan district attorney’s office said only that prosecutors aren’t making an offer at the moment.
The 26-year-old Young was standing outside the team hotel in New York when a panhandler, wearing a yarmulke and a Star of David necklace, approached a group of about four Chicago tourists standing nearby, police said.
Young started yelling anti-Semitic epithets, though it wasn’t clear at whom he was shouting, and got into a scuffle with the Chicago group, police said. A 32-year-old man was tackled and ended up with scratches to his elbows, according to police and the criminal complaint.
Young has said he regrets what happened. Ollen has said the player reacted to something that was said to him.
Major League Baseball suspended Young for seven days without pay after the confrontation.
Young is free on $5,000 bond and due back in court Nov. 7, after the World Series is expected to end.
As of Thursday, Young was batting .266, with 12 homers and 43 RBIs for the season.
Late-blooming Stiemsma signs with T’wolves
MINNEAPOLIS — Greg Stiemsma has signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The deal was done Thursday.
The 26-year-old Stiemsma was named the 2010 NBA Developmental League Defensive Player of the Year after he averaged 9.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and a league-leading 3.7 blocks per game for the Sioux Falls Sky Force. That’s when he says he made the most strides in his professional career and gained the necessary confidence to believe he could stay in the NBA.
After playing the following season in Turkey, Stiemsma joined the Celtics last season and appeared in 55 games, averaging 2.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 13.9 minutes.
He says he would’ve liked to have returned to Boston but that Minnesota was “not a hard sell” given the proximity to his Wisconsin home.
LSU tops USA Today coaches poll
BATON ROUGE, La. — Despite its lopsided loss to Alabama in last January’s BCS national title game, LSU will open the 2012 season ranked No. 1 in at least one poll.
LSU sits atop the USA Today Top 25 coaches poll released on Thursday, with Alabama second and Southern California third.
LSU received 18 first-place votes, slightly fewer than the 20 first-place votes for the Crimson Tide and 19 first-place votes for the Trojans. Still, the Tigers narrowly had the most overall points in the poll, which awards 25 points for a No. 1 vote down to one point for 25th.
Oklahoma and Oregon round out the top five, followed by Georgia, Florida State, Michigan, South Carolina and Arkansas.
LSU and Alabama, rivals in the Southeastern Conference, meet Nov. 3 in Baton Rouge.
Badgers coach: Ball won’t be ready for camp
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema says star running back Montee Ball won’t be ready for camp after suffering a concussion during a street fight.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal , Bielema said during a taping of a show at WISC-TV studios in Madison on Thursday that Ball won’t be ready when practice begins Monday. The Badgers open the season at home Sept. 1 against Northern Iowa.
Bielema gave no indication Ball would suffer any long-term problems. He said Ball’s absence will spare last year’s Heisman Trophy finalist hits and give other backs more repetitions.
Police said five men knocked Ball down as he was walking near campus early Wednesday. The men kicked him in the head and chest before fleeing.
Fish advances to quarters in Washington
WASHINGTON — Mardy Fish knows what he’d have to do for his ankle to heal. He’s just not interested in doing it.
Still feeling the effects of a right ankle injury sustained two weeks ago in Atlanta, the top-seeded American beat Ricardas Berankis 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday night to advance to the Citi Open quarterfinals.
Fish said the injury doesn’t hamper his movement, and he can play through the discomfort.
“That’s a tough thing, because it needs rest and I’m just not going to give it rest,” Fish said. “I can’t give it rest. I’m not going to miss these tournaments.”
Fish will face Xavier Malisse on Friday. Malisse beat sixth-seeded Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-2.
Petra Kvitova to play in New Haven Open
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Organizers of the New Haven Open have announced 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has been granted a wildcard into the tournament.
Kvitova, of the Czech Republic, is the sixth-ranked player in the world.
Organizers said Thursday that she will be the fifth top-10 player in the New Haven Open field. The tournament will be held Aug. 17-25 at Yale University.
Joining her at the tournament will be World No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 8 Caroline Wozniacki, No. 9 Sara Errani and No. 10 Marion Bartoli.
From wire sources
