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December 30th, 1919, Colonel Huston Letter "Consummating a Certain Important Base Ball Deal" aka The Babe Ruth Sale (ex-Barry Halper Collection)
<p>One-page file copy letter, dated December 30, 1919, signed by Tilinghast Huston, co-owner of the New York Yankees. PSA has encapsulated the letter and certified the signature as "Authentic." The historical significance of this letter, which is addressed to "The Royal Bank of Canada," is that it makes an oblique reference to the Yankees' purchase of Babe Ruth's contract four days earlier. The reason why Huston couldn't be direct is that news of the transaction had not yet been made public.</p><p>In his letter, Huston attempts to arrange an immediate loan for Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee. In part: "In consummating a certain important Base Ball deal, Mr. Frazee accepted three notes of rather extended due dates for such a transaction, and I agreed to try to get him a 90 day accommodation for $25,000.00, and I will appreciate it if you can see your way clear to comply with Mr. Frazee's request." Huston has initialed the letter in black fountain pen (grading 9/10). The letter (8.5x11"), which is toned, displays two horizontal folds, along the lines of which are two complete tears that have been repaired on the reverse with clear tape. A few additional edge tears are also evident. </p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The reason Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth's contract to the Yankees on December 26, 1920, was because he was in desperate need of cash. He owed $262,000 on an outstanding note to former Boston Red Sox owner Joseph Lannin, from whom he purchased the club, he needed to contribute $100,000 in cash equity for a theater he was purchasing, and his most recent theatrical productions were in the red. Even after the sale of Ruth's contract to the Yankees for $100,000 and a $300,000 loan on December 26, 1919, Frazee was still strapped for cash.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">One of Frazee's problems centered around still unsettled issues with his original Fenway Park mortgage. Until that matter was settled he could not avail himself of the Yankees $300,000 loan (Fenway Park was listed as collateral for the loan). </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Also, the $100,000 that Frazee received from the Yankees was not in one lump sum. Frazee agreed to take $25,000 in cash, with the remainder to be paid in three notes of $25,000, each coming due, respectively, on November 1st over the next three years. The initial $25,000 that he received in cash, was not nearly sufficient to cover his debts. Faced with this mounting financial pressure, Frazee immediately began borrowing money, using the three Yankees notes as collateral for his loans. Here, in this letter from Huston, we can see that Frazee has enlisted Huston's help to obtain a loan from the Royal Bank of Canada. Frazee did secure a loan from the bank, and this letter is directly related to another lot in the auction in which Frazee signs a promissory note to the Royal Bank of Canada. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">This document, along with nearly every other surviving document relating to the sale of Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees, originates from the estate of Ed Barrow, who was manager of the Boston Red Sox at the time of the transaction, and soon after became the longtime business manager/general manager of the New York Yankees. Many years after Barrow's death, legendary collector Barry Halper purchased his entire business archive from the Barrow family, which included dozens of documents relating to Boston's historic sale of Ruth. (Barry Halper's collection is considered by many to have been the finest private baseball-memorabilia collection ever assembled.) In 1999, Halper sold nearly his entire collection at auction through Sotheby's in New York (the collection was so vast that it took over a week of twice-daily live auctions and three months of weekly internet sales to liquidate it). Lot 560 in the live-auction portion of the sale featured a large collection of documents relating to the sale of Ruth, from which these documents, as well as every other "sale of Ruth" document featured in this auction, originates. The entire content of Lot 560 in the 1999 Sotheby's Halper Collection auction has been consigned to this auction by the original purchaser, making this just the third time since 1919 that these historically significant documents will have traded hands.</span></p>
Past Sports Card, Memorabilia, Non-Sports Card and Collecitble Auction Items
Other past auction items that may be of interest to you.
February 25, 1920, Colonel Tillinghast Huston Handwritten Letter to Jacob Ruppert Regarding The Sale of Babe Ruth - From The Barry Halper Collection (PSA)
Barry Halper's "Copy" of the 1919 Babe Ruth Sale to New York Yankees Contract (ex-Barry Halper Collection)
Historic December 26th, 1919, Jacob Ruppert Sale of Babe Ruth Letter to Harry Frazee the Day Yankees and Red Sox Owners Agreed to Terms - Ruppert Loans Frazee $300,000 for Fenway Park Mortgage (ex-Barry Halper Collection)
Tentative Payment Schedule of Notes for Babe Ruth (ex-Barry Halper Collection)
December 30th, 1919, Colonel Huston Letter "Consummating a Certain Important Base Ball Deal" aka The Babe Ruth Sale (ex-Barry Halper Collection)
1920 Harry Frazee Promissory Note Directly Relating to the Sale of Babe Ruth (ex-Barry Halper Collection)
December 26th, 1919, Promissory Note from Yankees Co-Owner Colonel Tillinghast Huston to Boston Red Sox for The Sale of Babe Ruth - The Day Yankees & Red Sox Agree to Terms (ex-Barry Halper Collection)
