Joe DiMaggio struck out on the auction block yesterday.
High asking prices caused the sale of Yankee Clipper memorabilia to go foul at Christie’s auction house – while a Muhammad Ali keepsake scored a surprise knockout.
“The prices were a bit too high for me,” failed bidder Barry Knocks said. “I was disappointed. I’m a collector, not a dealer.”
The auction house admitted afterward that it had set the DiMaggio reserve prices too high.
“There was a tremendous interest in the property but it appears that our aggressive pre-sale estimates discouraged buyers,” John Matino, Christie’s sports-memorabilia specialist, told The Post.
Bidding on DiMaggio’s 1951 World Series jersey, the last he ever wore in a game, only reached $100,000 – which the auction house turned down. They had hoped for at least $125,000.
Christie’s also gave a Bronx cheer to an offer of $17,000 for Joltin’ Joe’s 1994 passport – because it fell $3,000 short of their reserve price – and refused $6,500 for his Florida license plate.
But the greatest miss of all was Joe D.’s blue-and-gray golf cart customized with pin-stripes. It opened at $15,000 and failed to receive a single bid.
“No one expected them to open the bids that high,” said dealer Peter Siegel of Gotta Have It Collectibles.
“A live auction is instantaneous. You have to allow people in the room to get going and get into the bidding.
“If the 1951 World Series jersey had opened at $50,000, a lot more people would have got involved. But when it began at $90,000, everybody was scared off, ” he said.
Despite the DiMaggio disaster, experts say the market for sports memorabilia in general has never been so good – thanks in large part to the Internet.
The top purchase at the auction was the pair of shoes worn in a 1972 boxing match by Ali.
“I’m on a high,” said the stock trader who forked out $25,000 for the shoes, as well as $11,162 for a green velour Ali robe.
“I love boxing, and Ali’s the greatest. I just knew I wanted them.”
Of 247 items offered yesterday, 124 were sold for a grand sum of $314,736. That included DiMaggio’s MasterCard and baseballs autographed by Babe Ruth.
Hotel developer Bob Friedman spent $20,000 on nine items, including a poster signed by DiMaggio and a Nolan Ryan strikeout bat.
“These men were heroes. It is wonderful to own something they were part of,” he said.