Items from Willie Mays’ personal collection net $6.5M at auction

Items from Willie Mays’ personal collection netted over $6.5 million across a two-day auction that benefited the late Hall of Famer’s foundation.

According to Hunt Auctions, 944 lots of items from Mays’ collection sold for $6,569,958 (including buyer’s premium) during live and online auctions that were held Saturday and Sunday.

“Per Mays’ wishes, all proceeds from this auction will go to delivering education, training, and health services for youth through the Say Hey! Foundation which Willie Mays founded in 2000,” Hunt Auctions said in a statement in July, when the auction was announced.

Included in the items sold were awards from Mays’ historic 1954 season: his MVP ($458,250) and Silver Slugger ($246,750) awards and World Series ring ($458,250).

Mays’ home uniform from the 1962 season, worn during that year’s All-Star Game and possibly the World Series, went for $634,500.

From the 1965 season, there were Mays’ MVP ($387,750) and Babe Ruth “Sultan of Swat” ($235,000) awards.

Mays’ 1977 custom Stutz Blackhawk VI — which includes a “Built for Willie Mays” placard and signed Mays documents — sold for $45,237.50.

And his Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded by President Barack Obama in 2015, featured a winning bid of $64,625.

Hunt Auctions told ESPN there will be another offering from the Mays Collection toward the end of 2025. They expect “an additional seven figures” in that auction as well.