This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/12/2019
Offered is a stunning and important relic from the history of the New York Yankees and Baseball in general. The featured check which was dated August 5, 1925, was the final payment from the New York Yankees to the Hartford Baseball club in the amount of $5000.00 for the purchase of Hall Of Famer Leo Durocher. Discovered by a Yankees scout, he broke into professional baseball with Hartford of the Eastern League in 1925, and earned a call-up to the Yankees that season. He got into two games and had one at-bat. Durocher spent the next two seasons in the minor leagues, at Atlanta of the Southern Association (1926) and St. Paul of the American Association (1927). He came back to the Yankees in 1928 and never completely left the major leagues until his retirement in 1973. Durocher’s time with the Yankees was volcanic. Protected by manager Miller Huggins, he quickly made enemies with his incessant yapping, extravagant living, and antagonizing Yankees stars like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Ruth nicknamed Durocher the “All-American Out” for his diminutive batting average. Ruth also accused him of stealing his watch, a charge Durocher denied vehemently. A stunning check that has been signed by Jacob Ruppert as President of the New York Yankees as well as Ed Barrow on the end of the check. A tremendous and historical item from the famed New York Yankees.
Durocher lost his protective mantle when Huggins died in 1929, and he was waived to the Cincinnati Reds before the 1930 season.