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February 25, 1920, Colonel Tillinghast Huston Handwritten Letter to Jacob Ruppert Regarding The Sale of Babe Ruth - From The Barry Halper Collection (PSA)
<p>Three-page handwritten letter from New York Yankees owner T. L. Huston, to his partner Jacob Ruppert, dated February 25, 1930, regarding the discounting of the three promissory notes issued to Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee for the purchase of Babe Ruth's contract one month earlier. The letter, written on two separate sheets (the first two pages are written on the front and reverse of a single sheet), has been scripted in pencil, but is not signed, as it was meant to be typed by his secretary and then sent to Ruppert. PSA has encapsulated both sheets and certified the handwriting as that of T. L. Huston. Accompanied by a New York Yankees typed file-copy of the transcribed letter sent to Ruppert. </p><p>In his letter to Ruppert, Huston informs him that Frazee is asking their help in discounting each of the three $25,000 notes issued by the Yankees for the purchase of Babe Ruth's contract on December 26, 1919. As Huston relates, Frazee cannot get the notes discounted at a Boston bank because he is deep in debt to former Red Sox owner Joseph Lanin, to whom he still owes $262,000. Huston further explains to Ruppert that although he had already helped Frazee discount one of the notes at his banks in New York ". . . . The balance I carry with my bank hardly places me in a position to ask for a larger accommodation, and frankly, I must keep my credit absolutely green there, so as to utilize same in case we are called upon to build new grounds. . . ." According to Huston, the only option is for Ruppert have the notes discounted at ". . . . some bank where you or some of your associate institutions carried a large enough bank balance to justify the discount. . . ." Huston concludes by writing "I don't know if you are in a position to further Mr. Frazee's desires, but he feels we should help him out someway, as he could have sold the player [Ruth] for cash. I think a conference with Mr. Frazee would be helpful." Each page of the handwritten letter (8.5x11") displays two horizontal folds and light creases. The file-copy letter (8.5x11") displays complete tears along the two horizontal folds, each of which has been repaired with vintage clear tape. Moderate toning and edge tears are are also evident. </p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">These documents, 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. <br></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)
