Mid Summer Classic Auction 2016
Tue, Mar 8, 2016 04:00PM EST - Sat, Aug 20, 2016 11:00PM EDT
Timed Auction
Lot 719
OCT. 8, 1908 CHRISTY MATHEWSON GAME USED & NOTATED BASEBALL ATTRIBUTED TO N.Y. GIANTS' NOTORIOUS "MERKLE" PLAYOFF LOSS TO CHICAGO CUBS
Sold for
$6,060
Sold Price includes BP
Bid Increments
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|---|---|
| $0 | $10 |
| $200 | $25 |
| $500 | $50 |
| $1,000 | $100 |
| $3,000 | $250 |
| $5,000 | $500 |
| $10,000 | $1,000 |
| $30,000 | $2,500 |
| $50,000 | $5,000 |
| $100,000 | $10,000 |
| $200,000 | $20,000 |
| $300,000 | $25,000 |
| $500,000 | $50,000 |
Addendum: Year of game was 1908 not 1914 as stated in previous heading. Typo.
The 1908 New York Giants were almost able to capitalize on their ace hurler Christy Mathewson's banner year—easily one of the finest pitching performances in baseball's annals and one that would have helped the Giants win the pennant were it not for "Merkle's Boner." Amazingly in 1908 Christy Mathewson compiled a 37-11 record with 259 strikeouts 11 shutouts and a 1.43 ERA! The effort brought Mathewson's New York Giants within one game of the N.L. pennant but it was the Cubs who reigned supreme that year. Nevertheless Mathewson's monumental performance proved worthy of league-wide recognition no organization more appreciative than his own New York Giants of their star's historic 1908 campaign.
Those honors though graciously received could never erase the agony of the one-game playoff loss to the Cubs. Ironically the lowest moment in Mathewson's career came on the final day of his greatest season. As he remembered it
"The New York Giants and the Chicago Cubs played a game at the Polo Grounds on October 8 1908 which decided the championship of the National League in one afternoon which was responsible for the deaths of two spectators who fell from the elevated railroad structure overlooking the grounds which made Fred Merkle famous for not touching second which caused lifelong friends to become bitter enemies and which altogether was the most dramatic and important contest in the history of baseball. It stands out from everyday events like the battle of Waterloo and the assassination of President Lincoln. It was a baseball tragedy from a New York point of view. The Cubs won by the score of 4-2."
The offered baseball is attributed to that game based on period annotations that include among other things “October 8 1908” "Brown vs. Mathewson" “Polo Grounds New York “Chicago-4 New York-2” and "Pennant Ball." The design of the baseball itself is a one-year style used exclusively in the National League in 1908 and all elements appear to be perfect match. An immensely intriguing artifact that represents a seminal moment in the game’s early history.
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