Ruth K fetches top price

The most famous contract in U.S. sports history — the 1919 deal by which the Boston Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees — sold at auction Friday for a record $996,000 at Sotheby’s in New York.

The “yellowed contract,” signed by Bosox owner Harry Frazee and Yanks owners Jacob Ruppert and Tillinghast  L. Huston, shipped Ruth, then a star pitcher, to the Bronx in exchange for $100,000.  Frazee, also known as a Broadway producer, was said to want the money to finance a production of No, No, Nanette.

Thanks to Ross Runkel of LawMemo.Com for the tip.  (Photo public domain, courtesy WIkipedia.)