Gehrig items fetch nearly $1 million

ROSEMONT, Ill., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- An auctioneer said a Chicago-area auction of items once owned by baseball legend Lou Gehrig made a total of nearly $1 million.

Heritage Auctions said the Thursday night auction at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., saw the former New York Yankees player's 1928 World Championship wristwatch sell for $155,350, a signed baseball sell for $131,450 and his first baseman's cap sell for $95,600, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Friday.

A uniform Gehrig wore during an exhibition tour of Japan sold for $507,875 at the auction. The auction also saw the sale of a signed baseball cigarette lighter for $41,825 and a signed photograph sold for $26,290.

"The Gehrig items are the equivalent of essentially a new Picasso being discovered in the art world," said Chris Ivy of Heritage Auctions. "The (Japanese) tour really grew the game of baseball in Japan, essentially giving us guys like Sadaharu Oh and Ichiro Suzuki. It was the seminal event that helped Japan embrace the game of baseball."

The auctioneer said the items had been in the possession of Ruth Martin, Gehrig's ex-girlfriend, and were passed to her son, Jeff Quick, 69, who had them auctioned.