'Antiques Roadshow' guest tears up after learning the value of his ‘remarkable’ baseball collection
Baseball has been one of the most integral parts of American culture for more than a century and baseball cards have become popular among collectors. Hence it’s not surprising that a descendant of a player from a bygone era brought his uncle’s memorabilia on Antiques Roadshow in Omaha. Antiques expert Simeon Lipman was left fascinated by the items and the total valuation of the items left the overwhelmed guest in tears.
“My great-great uncle, Les Nunamaker, played professional baseball from about 1911 to about 1920 with teams like Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, St Louis Browns, and Cleveland Indians,” the guest said as per Express. The items included magazine prints of the player, that bat he used, a couple of cufflinks, a ticket from one of the games back in the day, a silver lifetime membership card from the MLB, and a 1912 Boston Red Sox championship medal.
8/3/1914. Yankees catcher Les Nunamaker owns perhaps the most unique record in baseball history. In the 7th inning of a game at Detroit's Navin Field, Nunamaker has three assists in an inning in which the side was retired without a single ball being put into play. #Yankees pic.twitter.com/Umc1yQtH8T
— John Devlin (@lielo4950) August 3, 2021
After going through the magazine articles about Nunamaker, Lipman said, “He was one of the best pinch hitters of the day. He was also a great catcher.” Something about his bat intrigued the antiques expert as well. While it did belong to Nunamaker, it had the name 'Theis' engraved on the willow. It referred to another popular baseball player of the time, Jack Theis.
“This bat says ‘Theis’, not ‘Nunamaker’. Back then, what these guys would do if they felt a bat that felt right, they’d say: ‘Hey, do you mind if I take that bat?’ You know, ‘I’ll send it back to Louisville Slugger. Maybe they’ll make me one like that.’ It’s very possible that’s what this means,” Lipman explained further.
Today in 1914... Yankee catcher Les Nunamaker throws out two Tigers trying to steal second base in the 7th inning of a game at Detroit, and picks a third off second who had stolen successfully. This Day in #Yankees History: https://t.co/c2mBvYwqLo pic.twitter.com/WLuZnbxA93
— Chris Morris (@BurrowDweller73) August 3, 2024
After further inspection of the items on display, it was time for Lipman to determine the value of the items on the table that day. The ticket stub was worth $1500, the lifetime pass was valued between $800 and $1200, and the cufflinks were worth $3000. However, perhaps the most special item among it all was the championship medal which could be worth up to $20,000. Overall, the total value of the full set was close to $25,000.
It is important to remember that this segment of Antiques Roadshow was recorded in 2002. $25,000 was a lot of money back then and its value could be more than $45,000 now as per the PBS video. Understandably, the guest to who these items belonged was flabbergasted by the news. It even made the guest so emotional that it brought tears to his eyes.
“Oh, I got a tear in my eye,” he said when Lipman told him how much the 1912 championship-winning medal was worth. That season was an important one in the history of the Red Sox. “The 1912 Red Sox were a particularly important team,” Lipman explained. “They won 105 games and they beat the New York Giants to win the World Series, it was a big deal. It’s probably one of the most important of the Boston championships.”
