Rare baseball memorabilia being sold this weekend at Louisville Slugger Museum's live auction

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- You can buy a piece of baseball history this weekend during a live auction at Louisville Slugger Museum.

Jeremy Kraft with Hunt Auctions joined WDRB Mornings Thursday with a look at some of the rare items up for sale.

"We're always excited to return to Louisville and do another event downtown at Slugger Museum," Kraft said. "It's been a long-running thing for us, and always a lot of fun.

"We bring a selection of material that we're auctioning. We also offer people the opportunity to bring in things they may have from home for an appraisal. Even if it's not something that you're looking to sell. We can let you know what it's worth, what can I do to preserve it."

A couple of high-interest items up for bid are "marquee autographed baseballs -- a Babe Ruth ball. It's kind of a good example of a piece of memorabilia that actually a lot of people tend to have in the family, sitting at home. This is a particularly strong condition example, and they expect it to generate a lot of interest."

Also available: a pair of Hillerich & Bradsby bats. Kraft said one "is what they call a decal bat, made in the early part of the 1900s -- not used by players but they just display very nicely."

The other bat was used by George Brett in a game in 1976 that has a bicentennial logo burned in.

"It's always fun to bring these things back to the factory where they made them," Kraft said.

Another rare historical item is an early piece of championship jewelry.

"It was right in the era when they were starting to hand out championship rings," Kraft said. "This example is from 1924, given to a member of the Washington Senators named Ozzie Blush. We actually have some other materials from that family's collection in the sale."

In what could be considered the crown jewel of Saturday's auction, a jersey worn by Ricky Henderson during his rookie season in 1979 with the Oakland Athletics.

"Ricky actually is our honoree this year for The Living Legend Award, a very fun part of the event that we do every year."

Kraft said about 450 lots of items will be on display for sale at the Slugger Museum. Everyone is invited.

The live auction at Louisville Slugger Museum starts Saturday at 10:30 a.m., but you do not have to be physically present at the auction to bid. Items are already available for viewing and bidding online at Hunt Auctions. You can also use links on the site to ask questions about baseball memorabilia you may be interested in selling.