The bat Lou Gehrig used to hit his last two home runs, in an exhibition game in 1939, is being auctioned off again.
Once owned by actor Kurt Russell's family, the bat is part of a Yankees Legends offering by Heritage Auctions. The entire collection is from one owner and has mostly Yankees-related memorabilia, including a bat used by Roger Maris in the 1961 season when he hit a then-record 61 home runs. There's also a glove used by Mickey Mantle in 1965 and signed baseballs from various Yankees championship teams.
The online auction opened Tuesday and closes on Dec. 10 at 10 p.m. CST. The collection, which can be viewed on Heritage's website, also includes a Babe Ruth bat from his rookie season with the Boston Red Sox in 1915, a bat used by Ted Williams in the All-Star game in 1960, a bat used by Jackie Robinson during his 1949 National League MVP season and a ball signed by .400 hitters Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Ted Williams, George Sisler and Bill Terry.
"There's a lot of cool pieces in here starting with that rookie Ruth bat," Chris Ivy, Heritage's director of sports auctions, told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "Ruth coming from Boston to the Yankees in 1920 is really what changed their fortunes. In 1923 they built the new stadium and started winning championships to become the most successful franchise."
Ivy said all the autographed items have been vetted by multiple authentication services.
Gehrig retired after appearing in only eight games in 1939 while suffering from ALS. He had no home runs in 28 at bats that year. The slugger gave the bat he used for the home runs in the exhibition game to Bing Russell, Kurt Russell's father, who was a batboy with the Yankees. It stayed in the family until Jill Franco, Kurt Russell's sister and the mother of former major leaguer Matt Franco, sold it in an auction in November 2011 for $403,664.
Shooting blanks
Mass shootings across the nation have prompted Marist College in New York to drop Shooter as the nickname for its sports mascot.
The Poughkeepsie Journal reports that Marist College came up with a new name for the costumed mascot for its Red Foxes men's and women's basketball teams after last month's mass shooting at a country music concert in Las Vegas.
The school's athletics department settled on Frankie, a nod to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was born in nearby Hyde Park.
The private college in Poughkeepsie, north of New York City, debuted the new nickname during last weekend's season openers for both teams.
The original Shooter nickname was used for years and referred to shooting baskets, not guns.
Numbers game
Brad Rock of Salt Lake City's Deseret News, after BYU was flagged for having two players with the same number on the field at the same time against Fresno State: "Unfortunately, neither was wearing Ty Detmer's No. 14, Jim McMahon's No. 9, Steve Young's No. 8 ... "
Sports quiz
Name the Washington Senators pitcher who gave up Lou Gehrig's final regular-season home run on Sept. 27, 1938.
Answer
Dutch Leonard
Sports on 11/15/2017