Willie Mays Memorabilia Sold at Goldin Auctions After His Death

When Willie Mays passed away on June 18 at the age of 93, the “Say Hey Kid” left a huge void in the baseball community and the sports world. Tributes poured in across the country and at the MLB game at Rickwood Field, which was set up to honor Mays’ legendary career and the Negro Leagues.

When it comes to collectibles, there aren’t many Mays pieces out there, but there are a few rare items from the MLB legend’s playing days. A Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) Type I photograph of a 20-year-old Mays during his debut with the New York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants) in 1951 sold at Goldin Auctions for $12,063 with Goldin’s 22% buyer’s premium. Twenty-one bids were placed on the photo, and the buyer was not disclosed. Bidding on the photo ended on June 29.

An auction for a game-used MacGregor KC1P glove that Mays wore from 1970-72 failed to meet its reserve price — the minimum price a seller will accept from a buyer — and did not sell. That reserve price is unknown at this time. There were five bids placed on the glove, the highest of which was $85,000 with no buyer’s premium. The glove auction ended on July 14; the date was pushed back a day “probably” due to shots fired during former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Penn., Saturday night, which has been classified as an assassination attempt, a Goldin Auctions spokesman said. Sporty via text.

In light of recent news with today’s events, we are changing the closing date of our “King of Collectibles” auction to tomorrow night, Sunday, July 14th. Open Extended Bidding will now begin tomorrow night at 10:00 PM ET. photo.twitter.com/WC1coQXmer

—Goldin (@GoldinCo) July 13, 2024

Ken Goldin, CEO and founder of Goldin Auctions, believes Mays memorabilia has been historically undervalued.

“When a player passes away, the value of their memorabilia will typically increase and in many cases, that value is maintained,” Goldin wrote in an email. “Signed memorabilia is more common, but there is now a finite amount of items that will at some point contain a Mays signature, and it is critical to ensure that all signatures are authenticated.”

The Mays photo, which according to the item description was the first Mays debut photo to come to market, came in under Goldin’s estimate of $25,000. Type I photographs are rare because they are known as the original image. PSA calls a Type I image “developed from the original negative, within approximately two years after the photograph was taken.” While condition is important, so is the image itself.

“This one is from Mays’ first Major League game. Debut photos are among the most sought after and are like trading cards in that regard,” Goldin said, adding that the photo came to the auction house as part of a larger Mays collection before his passing.

Goldin estimated the glove, which came from the personal collection of MLB Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, who entrusted it to Goldin Auctions for safekeeping, would have sold for $150,000. It sits on a wooden podium listed with Mays’ accolades, including 1954 World Series champion, two-time NL MVP, 1951 NL Rookie of the Year, 24-time All-Star, 12-time Gold Glove winner, two-time All-Star Game MVP, a 1979 Hall of Fame inductee and owner of 660 career home runs.

Mays and Jackson never played on the same team, except for All-Star games, but they did face each other several times during their careers. Goldin said collectors would “really appreciate” that the glove came directly from Jackson, but that it may not have affected the overall value.

The experts at Goldin Auctions have never seen a debut photograph of Babe Ruth (1914), Lou Gehrig (1923), Joe DiMaggio (1936) or Ted Williams (1939) for sale. Lelands auction house sold a Type 1 Ruth photograph from 1915, when the “Bambino” was with the Boston Red Sox, for $99,822, including buyer’s premium, on June 29.

Mays trading cards have been circulating for some time, and Ryan Hoge, PSA president, said via email that PSA has graded more than 170,000 Mays cards to date. He believes the value of a Mays card has increased since his passing.

“He did sign a lot of cards compared to others,” Hoge said. “What’s unique is that his signature changed from early in his career to late in his career. His early career autograph cards are worth a premium to collectors.”