Tommy John’s 1991 Crown Royal Achievement Awards Package.
Lot 18. Tommy John’s 1991 Crown Royal Achievement Awards Package. In 1991, John was one of six athletes Crown Royal honored who “have beaten physical challenges to reach the very peak of success in their chose sport. They had to dig deeper, try harder, leap over one more hurdle” to achieve success. The other recipients were Wilma Rudolph, who won three gold medals at the 1960 Olympics, the first U.S. woman to do so; Jeff Blatnick, 1984 Greco-Roman wrestling super heavyweight Olympic gold medalist; Rocky Bleier, four-time Super Bowl running back with the Pittsburgh Steelers; Scott Hamilton, Olympics and World Champion figure skater, and Calvin Peete, the most successful African-American on the PGA tour before Tiger Woods. Until recently, the impressive elements of this award were prominently displayed in John’s living room. An extraordinary lithograph depicting an Olympics athlete has been autographed by John and each of the honorees, except for Peete. Their autographs, authenticated by Kevin Keating, are large and bold, all gem mint 10. Rudolph died in 1994. The lithograph is signed also by Jimmie Heuga, a U.S. skier who won the bronze medal at the 1964 Olympics. Multiple sclerosis ended Heuga’s career. Proceeds from the dinner benefited the Jimmie Heuga Center, established to help individuals with M.S. to live fuller and more normal lives through exercise and activity. Heuga passed away last year. The litho is professionally framed to 26” x 34”. The awards package also includes a 3.25” brass medal and an awards program featuring the same image used in the lithograph. John autographed his photo in the program. A purple velvet-covered box houses the medal. Also included are an 8.5” x 11” framed photo of the honorees (excluding Peete), a snapshot of John delivering his acceptance speech and a VHS of ESPN’s broadcast of the awards. Among John’s numerous awards, this is easily the most impressive in appearance! Winning Bid $200.
