January 5, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Heritage Auctions will be selling a newly discovered photo of Roberto Clemente in a Montreal Royals uniform in their Winter Platinum Night Auction that starts on February 2.

“It’s the nicest early career Clemente photo I’ve ever seen,” said Tony Giese, a cataloger and consignment director at Heritage Auctions, who has been in the sports memorabilia business for nearly 20 years. “It’s the earliest professional photo I’ve seen of Clemente where he is on his own.”

Scouted by Al Campanis and signed to a $15,000 contract by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954, Clemente was assigned to the Royals, their International League affiliate. With a rule in place that stipulated that any team signing a rookie to a contract over $4,000 must keep that player on their major league roster for the season or risk losing them in an off-season draft (equivalent to today’s Rule 5 draft), sending Clemente to Montreal was a gamble.

Clemente’s season with the Royals was a frustrating one for the raw and talented 19-year-old. Despite being one of the Dodgers’ best prospects, he was sent to the plate only 148 times in a 154-game season. The most popular theory for Clemente’s lack of playing time was that the Dodgers were trying to hide him from other teams, so that they wouldn’t select him in the off-season draft. That explanation has been disputed over the years. Nevertheless, the Pittsburgh Pirates did choose Clemente in that draft, and he went on to enjoy a legendary 18-season career with them. As a member of the Pirates, Clemente was selected to 15 All-Star games, won four batting titles, registered exactly 3,000 regular season hits and was a member of two World Championship-winning teams (1960, 1971).

The photo Heritage Auctions will offer is a full-length, black and white shot of Clemente in a batting pose that was likely taken during spring training. It came from a big-time Clemente collector. The photo does not have a stamp on the back and is currently being examined by experts at PSA who will provide more details.

Photos of Clemente with the Royals are very rare. The 1954 Royals team photo, with Clemente in it, is on display at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

In August 2019, Heritage Auctions sold a PSA/DNA authenticated Type 1, 1954 Royals photo (see above) that showcased most of the team in spring training. Clemente is seated second from the right in the second row. That photo, which had a Montreal Sports Herald stamp on the back with the date March 20, 1954, sold for $990.

“Clemente is in that photo, but he’s not prominently featured,” said Giese. “This [newly uncovered] photo has such a clear image and is a full body shot. In the other photo, he was amongst his teammates. This is a standalone. So, when the guy brought it to us I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is a beautiful, beautiful Clemente [photo].'”

Giese says original vintage baseball photos are generally very rare and have taken off in value in recent years.

“I told him [the consignor] that the photo go for around $5,000, but it could go for a lot more,” said Giese of the newly discovered Clemente photo. “Five figures on it wouldn’t totally surprise me.”

The demand for any kind of Clemente memorabilia – whether it’s photos, cards, game-worn items or autographs – remains very strong.

“Clemente is near the absolute top [in terms of popularity among players from his era],” said Giese. “His stuff continues to go up in value. I remember when his cuts [cut autographs] were like $600 and now they’re $1,200 to $1,500. His autograph continues to go up . . . The prices for Clemente are like those for Jackie Robinson or for Mickey Mantle or DiMaggio or Williams. They don’t really go down . . . If you want to talk investment, his stuff is about as solid as anybody’s.”

Evidence of this can be found in the price garnered for an autograph booklet (see image above) sold by Heritage in November with a Clemente signature dated to May 15, 1954 while he was with the Royals. That autograph was graded a PSA NM-MT 8 (out of 10) and the booklet sold for $3,120.

Seven years earlier, a 1954 team-signed Montreal Royals ball (that includes Clemente’s signature) fetched $2,390 in a Heritage sale.

Giese believes the newly discovered Clemente photo will sell for far more than these items in Heritage’s Winter Platinum Night Auction that will run from February 2 to February 25.

“I never knew of this image of Clemente, so when the consignor called and showed it to me, I was like, ‘Wow, bring that in. We want that for our auction,'” said Giese.