Braves Hit With Lawsuit Over Disputed Hank Aaron Auction Items

The Atlanta Braves had questions about the provenance of some Hank Aaron memorabilia up for auction this summer.

So Heritage Auctions is suing the Braves for it.

After the team sent a cease and desist letter to the auction house last week, asking the items to be pulled from the auction while there were legitimate questions as to their provenance, the auction house responded by a lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Dallas, where the company is located.

The lawsuit states that "the items in dispute will be auctioned online and live in Dallas, Texas between August 23-25, 2024."

Here is what we know so far:

Per the listing, now removed, a complete set of four bases from Hank Aaron's 715th home run were removed from the field and boxed up on the orders of a "long-time Braves employee", who stored them until they were bequeathed to his son in 2016.

The Atlanta Braves question that story, as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution originally reported that the National Baseball Hall of Fame was in possession of the original third base after being given it by Aaron himself in 1982.

The authenticity or legal ownership of several other items were also questioned by the Braves, including purported game-worn jerseys and hats from both Aaron and other members of either the Milwaukee and Boston Braves. Other non-clothing items being disputed includes Milwaukee Braves catcher Del Crandall's 1958 Gold Glove award.

Heritage, in their lawsuit filing, argues that the Braves-related memorabilia was cosigned from a total of five people, but that the identities of the consignors is confidential information. A letter of provenance is supposedly available for the four bases, but Heritage has declined to make that publicly available.

Heritage Auctions was given a deadline of Tuesday at 5:00 PM to both remove the items from the online auction listing and provide the Braves with their documentation as to the authenticity, ownership, or legal transfer of the items.

Heritage did finally remove the listings on Tuesday night, sometime after the deadline. They then filed their lawsuit on Wednesday morning. In the lawsuit, Heritage accused the Atlanta Braves of four separate things: "defamation, business disparagement, intentional interference with contractual relations and intentional interference with prospective economic relations."

Essentially, Heritage is claiming that the Braves have taken actions to damage their reputation and their relationships with both cosignors and potential bidders, who may now "doubt whether the items Heritage is selling are authentic."

The lawsuit was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution , who obtained statements from both parties for their report.

A statement to the AJC from Heritage Auctions reads: “We do not comment on pending legal matters. However, Heritage Auctions prides itself on transparency and authenticity and stands behind every item we offer at auction.”

A statement to the AJC from a Braves spokesman read: “We intend to vigorously defend the ownership of our property in a court of law and will not be issuing any further statements as this is an ongoing legal matter.”

Among other suggested remedies, Heritage requests damages in excess of $75,000.