Founding Rules of ‘Base Ball’ Sell for $3.26 Million in Auction

A group of documents from 1857 that set down some of the fundamental rules of baseball was acquired at auction Sunday by an unidentified buyer for $3.26 million, making it one of the highest-priced pieces of sports memorabilia. “Laws of Base Ball” was put up for online bidding this month by SCP Auctions; the price paid was the most ever for a baseball document but below the $4.3 million paid in 2010 for James Naismith’s  original 13 rules of basketball. The most expensive piece of sports memorabilia is a Babe Ruth jersey from 1920 that sold for $4.4 million in 2012.