Last season at The Nat, on one of the many fine afternoons I sat next to one Bud Kerr, self-professed baseball historian and ladies man, he mentioned that the annual meeting of the local baseball statheads had taken place at the stadium.

"Damn it, I forgot that was coming up," I said.

"You should have been there," said Budrick. "This woman called me up and said she had some old photos from her grandfather’s collection, and I told her she should bring them to the meeting and we could tell her if any were important. She had one… you wouldn’t believe it. I think it’s worth something. I think it’s worth a lot."

I prodded him for information… carefully, since too much prodding makes Bud reach for the oxygen tank, these days.

"It was of the Chicago American Giants, a barnstorming team of black guys, from when they played in Vancouver. It’s got Rube Foster, Pop Lloyd, bunch of others. It was taken at the old Athletic Park. Real old. It’s got to be worth a lot of money."

Well, turns out it was. The photo went to auction last night, and bidding ended at 4AM at US$35,250. The buyer was apparently a collector of some note.

From the Globe and Mail:

Jennifer Koos owned a stack of historical photographs given to her by her grandfather, Harold Crummer, a railroad labourer and Second World War veteran. Mr. Crummer told her he had received the photographs from his father-in-law, a commercial photographer named Stuart Thomson.

Ms. Koos, who had 17 portraits of baseball teams, called the Vancouver Canadians baseball team for advice. The club put her in touch with team historian Bud Kerr, who suggested she visit Nat Bailey Stadium during a meeting of local baseball fans.

Her keepsakes stunned the gathering. Max Weder, a tax lawyer, and Kit Krieger, a retired teacher, instantly understood the significance of the American Giants portrait.

Koos will be using the money from the sale to "look after" her kids, which is likely what her grandfather would have used it for had he still been kicking about.

But her windfall wasn’t the biggest of the night:

The telephone and online auction was highlighted by the sale of a Babe Ruth rookie card for $440,000, which is believed to be the second-highest price yet paid for a baseball card. It was issued in 1914 by a Baltimore newspaper and is one of only 11 known to exist.

Anyone want a 1980 Mark Fidrych with a torn upper right hand corner?