There's virtually no better time of the year than right now for shopping in auction houses. Hunt's Louisville Slugger auction ended a couple weeks ago. Collectible Classics, Clean Sweep, HistoricLelands.com and have all recently ended. Then Dec. gets rolling with Grey Flannel, Memory Lane, Vintage Authentics, Mastro Auctions, Premier, Universal Rarities, ITPC and others. SCP Auctions/Sotheby's ends in late Jan. Like I said, it's a great time of year and a decent time to pick up some bargains too.

First, it’s impossible not to mention the Babe Ruth photo that sold for $26,349 in Lelands.com recent auction. It pictured Ruth surrounded by admiring fans in the 1920s and is the highest price for a photo that I can remember seeing. There was also a Josh Gibson photo that his $18,470, while the highest priced item was a Yogi Berra home Yankees uniform, which sold for $66,441.

Some of the major highlights in Dec. include:
• Grey Flannel Auctions is featuring a game-worn Jackie Robinson jersey in its sale that ends Dec. 5. The home jersey, from the 1951 season, carries a $50,000 minimum bid.
• Memory Lane’s current catalog auction ends Dec. 8 and features three Christy Mathewson-signed item, which I’ve mentioned in past blogs.
• Mastro Auctions’ will wrap up its current auction Dec. 13. Among the highlights is a box containing thousands of rare documents, letters and memos that supposedly detail events surrounding the 1919 World Series Black Sox Scandal.
The papers, examined by the Chicago Tribune, appear to contain documents from the 1921 criminal trial against eight White Sox players accused of throwing the 1919 World Series as part of a gambling scandal. The papers also include documents from a 1924 lawsuit in which some of the players sued the Chicago franchise for back pay.
• Vintage Authentics has game-used bats from Joe Jackson, Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, all graded by MEARS, in its Dec. 13 auction.

While none of these items will go for bargain prices, the fact that there are so many top-notch items all in the same month means that plenty of other items may fall into a more affordable range for consumers.