All the Hank Aaron memorabilia that the Braves sent a cease and desist letter to Heritage Auctions about in advance of an upcoming auction is still available.
As of Sunday, the alleged home plate and bases from Aaron’s 715th home run, and a cap from 1974, a jersey from 1974 and a jersey from 1954, were all still showing on the auction site. The items were mentioned specifically in the cease and desist letter the Braves sent Friday. A copy of the letter was first obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Braves set a deadline of Tuesday at 5 p.m. for a response from Heritage Auctions. If Heritage Auctions does not comply with the Braves’ cease and desist letter, they “will exercise all of its legal rights and remedies under the law and in equity, including, but not limited to: (i) seeking an injunction in federal court to halt the sale of the Disputed Items; (ii) seeking disgorgement of profits, fees, or monies associated with the sale of the Disputed Items; and (iii) contacting appropriate authorities to initiate criminal charges for theft, conversion, fraud, and additional ancillary claims.”
The disputed Aaron memorabilia is set to be a part of Heritage Auctions’ Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction Aug. 23-25.
Currently, the home plate and bases have a pre-bid of $44,000. The 1974 cap is at $6,500, the 1974 jersey is at $105,000 and the 1954 jersey is at $800,000.
The AJC first called into question the possible authenticity of the home plate and bases after reporting that the Baseball Hall of Fame has an Aaron display, since 2009, with the third base from the night he hit the historic home run.
The Hall of Fame first issued the following statement to the AJC when it contacted the museum about the auction. “The third base bag from Hank Aaron’s 715 home run game, which was presented to him following his record-setting home run, was then donated by Aaron to the Hall of Fame in 1982. He subsequently donated his entire collection to the Hall of Fame.”
The Hall of Fame does not have the home plate and first and second bases from that game April 8, 1974. Lelands reportedly sold the second base from the game in an auction in 2002.
When contacted, Heritage Auctions stood by the authenticity of the items. They first issued the following statement to the AJC on Friday. “Heritage values nothing more than transparency and authenticity. We have done our due diligence and are satisfied that these are the authentic bases based on their source and the provenance. However, we were unaware of the concerns surrounding the bases until we saw the statements in the AJC late Thursday. We understand and appreciate the historic nature of these items, and we are now working to address all parties’ concerns in an attempt to resolve the matter expeditiously.”
Later Friday, the Braves sent the letter to Heritage Auctions. The letter questioned the authenticity and origins of the memorabilia. Concerning the home plate and bases, Heritage Auctions said they were consigned by the son of a long-time Braves employee.
The letter, in part, read:
“This letter shall serve as notice to Heritage that some or all of the Disputed Items were never in the rightful or legal possession of the party purporting to have ownership rights to auction them off and the Braves have reason to question the authenticity of some of the Disputed Items.
“This letter shall also serve as notice that the Disputed Items have not been authenticated by the Braves. It is our understanding that, the third base which Heritage purports to be one of the bases Hank Aaron “traveled on his greatest day…,” may be inauthentic because the actual third-base traversed by Hank Aaron on April 8, 1974 was gifted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown by Mr. Aaron in 1982 – where the base currently resides and is on display. Additionally, Leland’s Auction sold what was purported to be the second base in 2002.
“These are only two examples of verifiable transfers of some of the items Heritage claims are authentic. Heritage is now on notice that the authenticity of the Disputed Items are reasonably disputed; therefore, Heritage must immediately disclose this information to any potential bidder. The Atlanta Braves remain deeply concerned with Heritage’s lack of diligence and complete failure to authenticate the Disputed Items.”
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