Heritage Auctions is auctioning off what it says are three bases and the home plate from the game when Hank Aaron hit his then record-breaking 715th home run in 1974.
Estimated to be worth more than $100,000, bidding, including the buyer's premium, has hit $52,800 with eight days to go.
But the Hall of Fame released a statement Thursday night saying the museum has third base in its possession.
“The third base bag from Hank Aaron’s 715th home run game, which was presented to him following his record-setting home run, was then donated by Aaron to the Hall of Fame in 1982. He subsequently donated his entire collection to the Hall of Fame," the statement said.
A request for comment from Chris Ivy, Heritage's director of sports auctions, was not returned.
In its description of the lot, Heritage says, "Anybody that has ever visited the Baseball Hall of Fame has seen the complete uniform and bat and ball, one of the most popular displays in Cooperstown. But for decades, the three bases and home plate of Aaron's historic circumnavigation languished in cardboard boxes."
It is not known why the Heritage description in the auction said the three bases from April 8, 1974, all couldn't be seen in Cooperstown. The third base is actively being displayed at this moment.
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The auction description said a Braves employee, who is not named or referred to by title, "gathered his staff and instructed them to save absolutely everything related to this unprecedented moment in baseball history. They secured the bat, the cap, the jersey, the pants, the shoes and belt and socks. And, in a particularly unexpected and brilliant moment of clarity, he told his crew to pull up all the bases and home plate, too."
Heritage says the Braves employee gifted the bases in 2016 to his son, who consigned it to the auction. The Dallas-based auction house says it has a letter from the consignor, which has not been included in the lot.
The only additional provenance is the bases have the markings of bases in that era, and the box used to store home plate says "715 Home Run" on the box, and it was written in "vintage red marker."
In a statement to cllct, a Braves spokesperson said the organization was working to determine authenticity and ownership of the bases at Heritage.
"We were recently made aware of an auction containing bases removed from Atlanta Stadium by someone claiming to be a former Braves employee. We are working with multiple entities to explore their authenticity and whether they were improperly taken," the team said. "If the provenance of these items is established, then we will take the necessary measures to ensure that they are returned to the organization so that they can be displayed for generations of fans who want to recognize Hank and his achievements.”
When shown the bases, a game-used collector who requested anonymity was intrigued by the condition of home plate, which Heritage says has a "collection of spike marks." Aaron's homer came in the Braves home opener for the 1974 season, meaning it would have been a fresh home plate that night.
Complicating the situation further, Lelands auctioned off a base in 2002 that was billed as being second base from Aaron's record-breaking night.