For sale: painful piece of Red Sox history

A check used in Ruth deal to be auctioned off

Ruth's sale marked the start of an 86-year drought for the Sox during which the Yanks soared. (Courtesy Historic Auctions)

The canceled $50,000 check to the Boston American League Baseball Club has grayed since it was written in 1922 and does not appear to be worth more than the perforated paper it was printed on.

There is no mention of Red Sox or Yankees, curses or world championships, or that famous chubby slugger.

But with his looping signature in blue ink, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee endorsed what became an installment payment on 86 years of pain and frustration.

It is a check from the Yankees from the deal that sent George Herman "Babe" Ruth to the Bronx.

The 5 1/2-by-12-inch check is the signature item in a 1,200-lot online sale this month by Historic Auctions in St. Petersburg, Fla. Offered by an anonymous seller, the starting bid is $25,000 in an auction that ends May 29.

The Red Sox 1919 deal Frazee orchestrated netted $100,000 in cash and a $300,000 to $350,000 loan, the exact amount of which has long been disputed.

The check - dated Feb. 4, 1922 - was the third payment. Another $100,000 Yankees check from Dec. 30, 1921, will hit the auction block in December.

Ruth's sale marked the start of an 86-year drought for the Red Sox while the Yankees roared to 26 World Series championships. The auctioneers speculated that the checks could be bought by a New Yorker looking for an irreplaceable keepsake, or a Red Sox fan bent on destroying any record of the blood money that cursed all those seasons.

"It's an important part of baseball history with the curse and all," said James Brown, president of Historic Auctions.

"I'd hate for something to happen to it."

ANDREW RYAN