By John Erardi
Enquirer staff writer

Never mind pitcher Bucky Walters' memorabilia; the Reds could use the right arm of the 1939 National League Most Valuable Player.

But Bucky's valuable arm is no longer available, so the Reds will work behind the scenes to see if they can secure some of Walters' artifacts for their Hall of Fame and Museum, scheduled to open next month.

Walters' treasure trove of World Series rings, individual awards and personal items is going up for auction Aug. 20-21 by Hunt Auctions Inc., of Exton, Pa. Most of the 1,415 lots of sports memorabilia are not part of the Walters collection. But more than 50 are, and together they could bring upward of $100,000, judging by estimates in Hunt's catalogue.

"I've never seen anything quite this extensive from a star (Reds) player of that time period," said Greg Rhodes, executive director of the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum that is scheduled to open Sept. 25 at Great American Ball Park. "It's unusual to see that much stuff from a significant player of 65 to 70 years ago."

Museums typically do not bid on auction items, but rather seek to borrow those items from collectors and put them on display.

The items that will be sold at auction may be viewed at huntauctions.com.

"The best items, without a doubt, are the World Series rings," said Steve Wolter, a local collector who owns Sports Investments Inc. in Montgomery. "The next-best things are the 1939 NL MVP award and the (warmup) jacket."

Walters' 1940 World Championship ring could fetch as much as $10,000, maybe more, Wolter said.

The 1939 World Series ring will bring a couple of thousand dollars less, because the Reds lost in the World Series (four games to none to the New York Yankees).

The jacket is likely to go for between $5,000 and $6,000, he said.

The Reds already have a Walters' jacket on loan from another local collector, so they are not interested in the 1939-40 jacket, Rhodes said. The rings and Walters' MVP award are of interest, he said.

The Hunt Auctions people, who visited Cincinnati Tuesday, said they are unsure of what to expect for the MVP watch. The catalogue lists it at $5,000 to $7,500, but it could go for more or less because the watch predates the bigger, more ornate MVP awards handed out by the Baseball Writers' Association of America that often go for upwards of $10,000.

Wolter's favorite item is the pitcher's 14-karat gold All-Star game tie bar from the late 1930s. "Bucky Walters" is inscribed on the front, and there are crossed bats with a ball pendant attached to a chain from the tie bar. There is a small silver star between the bats that holds a single diamond.

"They (Hunt) have that listed at $750 to $1,000, but I think it could go for more like $3,000," Wolter said. "It's a very attractive piece."

Less valuable, but of historic interest, are Walters' military-issue jacket and helmet from a USO trip he made to Europe along with Casey Stengel, Frankie Frisch and Mel Ott during World War II to entertain the troops, and Walters' huge equipment trunk that went on the road with the Reds.

The only item that Walters had on display in his home in Pennsylvania was the Sporting News plaque honoring him as the Major League Baseball Player of the Year in 1939, said his son, Bill.

Bill laughed in recalling the time one of Walters' grandchildren saw a photo at the Walters home of the NL and American League MVPs of 1939 and asked, "Grandma, who's that guy with Grandpa?"

It was the New York Yankees' Joe DiMaggio.

But that was how dominant Walters was in 1939 : He could dwarf DiMaggio.

Walters led the NL in victories (27-11), ERA (2.29), games started (36) and completed (31), innings pitched (319) and strikeouts (137).

Oh, and he batted .325 (39-for-120). Walters had come up to the big leagues as a third baseman in 1931, meaning that he not only was a great hitting pitcher but also a great fielding one.

Does Walters' family feel any melancholy about relinquishing the treasures after all these years? Bucky, who was born in Philadelphia on April 19, 1909, died on April 20, 1991 in Abington, Pa.

"Yes, there's always a little nostalgia," said Bill, 67. "But a lot of it (Bucky's memorabilia) nobody paid attention to. It wasn't on display. It was nice to have, but to us (Bill and his brother, Bob, and their sister, Caroline), he was always Dad.

"He was a great father. Even when he was managing the Reds (in 1948 and 1949) - the team wasn't very good and Dad had a lot on his plate - he still took us out to do family things like going fishing. He taught me everything he knew about pitching, too, and I was able to do that through college. For us, the story of his life is the important thing, rather than the items. All this stuff going up for auction brings that story to light for people. A lot of people didn't know my dad."

Bill has campaigned to the veterans committee for his father's election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. It was close, but it always came down to numbers, Bill said. Bucky finished two victories shy of 200 (198-160) with a 3.30 ERA.

If he had pitched in his first four seasons in the big leagues instead of playing infield, maybe he would have made it.

E-mail jerardi@enquirer.com