DALLAS, TX.- The most decorated franchise in baseball history continued its winning ways in Heritage Auctions’ “Yankee Legends” auction, emphatically closing out annual auction sales in excess of $60 million for the sports collectibles category of the world’s largest collectibles auctioneer.

Key Yankees documents broke the bank in the Dec. 10 auction, with Lou Gehrig’s 1931 Yankees contract commanding $216,000 and Derek Jeter’s 1992 scouting report—the earliest article of Yankees ephemera relating to the sure-fire member of the 2020 Hall of Fame class—finding a new owner at $102,000.

Autographed baseballs, the hobby’s bedrock foundation, set exciting new auction prices – a welcome indicator of the market’s enduring strength. Five signed spheres soared past the $100,000 mark in spirited online bidding, most notably a $228,000 result for a 1915 Eddie Plank single signed baseball, second only to Heritage’s mark of $388,375 for a PSA/DNA Mint+ 9.5 Babe Ruth single sold in 2012. Fellow Dead Ball Era legend “Shoeless Joe” Jackson followed close behind on a multi-signed sphere that commanded more than $171,000.

“This has been the busiest period in our history,” Chris Ivy, director of Sports Collectibles at Heritage Auctions said of the months spent in preparation for this special three-auction sequence. “It’s gratifying to see all that hard work pay off. To see confirmation that the market can absorb this high volume of elite material.”

Mickey Mantle game used material also registered multiple six-figure results in this high-octane event, with a 1951 rookie model garnering $168,000, his 1960 World Series gamer drawing $108,000, and his 1965 Game Used Fielder’s Glove bringing $144,000.

Other notable results include:

• $120,000: 1926 New York Yankees Team-Signed Baseball from The Lou Gehrig Collection, the finest example known

• $120,000: 1927 New York Yankees Team-Signed Baseball

• $108,000: 1946-47 Babe Ruth Single-Signed Baseball, PSA/DNA NM-MT+ 8.5

• $96,000: 1960's Jackie Robinson Single Signed Baseball, PSA/DNA Mint 9

• $72,000: 1951 Joe DiMaggio All-Star Game Used Bat, PSA/DNA GU 10

• $50,400: Late 1950's Yogi Berra Game Used & Signed Catcher's Mitt, PSA/DNA Authentic

• $43,200: 2014 Derek Jeter Final Career Home Run (260) & Career Hits 3,452 to 3,255 Game Used & Signed Bat, PSA/DNA GU 9.5

• $38,400: 1915 Eddie Collins Single Signed Baseball to Hall of Fame Umpire Tommy Connolly