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#1
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Jackie Robinson: The chicken or the egg?
In a matter of weeks, a 1947 Jackie Robinson home jersey (Heritage) and Robinson’s contracts (1945 & 1947) (Goldin Auctions) will come to market. The 1947 Robinson home jersey as a pre-auction estimate of $2M+ while the contracts are said to have an insured value in excess of $30M. There obviously is a great delta in perceived value between these two lots. In the end, any number of factors will decide the final prices on each, so the question I will pose is which is the more significant and why?
For me, although I am strongly wedded to uniforms, I believe the uniform is the more significant of the two. I base this on the premise that the jersey has created the value for the contracts. What would the value or significance of the contracts be today if Jackie Robinson had been a flop in uniform in 1947? What if in 1947 Robinson had been a marginal player in uniform or been unable to restrain himself in uniform? Would he even have been back with Brooklyn or in the majors in 1948 to sign yet another contract? The fact of the matter is the Jackie Robinson legacy and value is one based on performance and conduct, not on permissions. Some might proffer that these are unparalleled sports memorabilia offerings…uniform vs contracts, but are they? Recently the transfer documents (permissions) for Babe Ruth’s move from the Boston Red Sox to New York Yankees sold for $2.3M (Lelands), yet the road jersey he wore in his first season in New York sold for $4.4M. Once again, what is the value and significance of the transfer documents if Ruth had gone to New York and been a bust instead of the Bam? The above Ruth example was not provided as a gauge of relative value (a Ruth jersey vs a Robinson jersey; Ruth agreements vs Robinson agreements), but rather as probably the most recent and near peer example of my “permissions vs performance” construct. Dave Grob |
#2
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I think that for some, the historical significance of the contract (the fact that in some ways it was the step that broke the color barrier) might increase its significance as compared to a jersey for Robinson's rookie season which is incredible, but does not have allure as a singular item.
I am also not sure it is fair to compare him to Ruth since I am pretty certain that the number of jerseys a player wore throughout a season was much higher when Robinson played than when Ruth did (I can't say this for sure, but I know that back in the 20's and 30's they went through very few uniforms... it would seem reasonable that by the late 40's they were using far more.) |
#3
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If I could have one......jersey.
He wore it game after game, through the taunts, on the field, stole bases, stole home, got pats on the back, sweat, bled, gave his all, played BASEBALL! Made History! Contract....."sign here", done. Put it in the file cabinet. NO BRAINER! Last edited by Shoeless Moe; 09-07-2017 at 03:27 PM. |
#4
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Jackie Robinson
Jeff,
Just so we are clear, I was not comparing a Ruth jersey to a Robinson jersey, hence my language of "The above Ruth example was not provided as a gauge of relative value (a Ruth jersey vs a Robinson jersey; Ruth agreements vs Robinson agreements), but rather as probably the most recent and near peer example of my “permissions vs performance” construct". Dave Grob |
#5
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Quote:
I definitely hear that and didn't intend to imply otherwise. I was just saying that if we use the Ruth as a starting point for consideration, I would think a Jackie contract carries more allure as a historical item, while a Jackie jersey a bit less due to their likely being more in existence. That said, for me personally, I think I'd probably prefer the jersey. |
#6
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Jackie Robinson
The photo of Robinson and Rickey is truly iconic.
1) How do folks feel about the $30 million insurance appraisal? 2) Does anyone want to make an argument for preferring to own the contract instead of the jersey? |
#7
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I would rather have a jersey
Last edited by murphusa; 09-07-2017 at 03:54 PM. |
#8
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+1 for me too, I would much rather have the Jersey - however if I knew I could get $30M selling the contract vs $2M for the jersey, I'll take the 30 mil.
Last edited by vintagesportscollector; 09-07-2017 at 04:10 PM. |
#9
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BTW, I think someone is smoking hemp re: the $30M contract appraisal Awesome item, but $30M? Last edited by Scott Garner; 09-07-2017 at 06:00 PM. |
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