In 1919, the Boston Red Sox sent Babe Ruth, arguably the greatest baseball player ever, to the New York Yankees for the price of $100,000. Those who are superstitious blame that move as the origin of the "Curse of the Bambino" – Boston's 86-year drought without a World Series title. Now sports memorabilia collectors have a chance to own a piece of that history as Lelands Auctions recently put the Yankees' copy of the contract on the auction block. Josh Evans, founder of Lelands, told CNBC's "Closing Bell" in a recent interview that his company has big aspirations for what the document will bring in. "We sold Babe Ruth's 1920 Yankees jersey for $4.5 million, which is the world record. This really should break it. But if it doesn't, it doesn't. I want the market to respond to where it should be."

For comparison, the copy of the Red Sox part of the deal went for close to $1 million at auction in 2005. But the contract isn't the only Ruth piece up for sale. Lelands also is auctioning off Ruth's World Series ring from the 1927 Yankees. "Both of these pieces have incredible provenance. They've been authenticated by just about everyone and they're the real thing," Evans said. He has been in the auction business for a long time. Evans founded Lelands when he was only 8 years old and in his time running the company he says, "These are the best pieces of sports memorabilia that's ever been offered, and I've sold a lot of it."

Sports imitating art?