In perhaps the most anticipated sports memorabilia auction ever, the jersey that iconic and legendary baseball player Babe Ruth wore when he “called the shot”, and hit a home run, during game 3 of the 1932 World Series has sold for an eye-popping and record-setting $24.12M with Heritage Auctions.
The sale puts the jersey in even higher acclaim, making it the most expensive sports collectible to ever be sold at auction. The jersey in question, belonging to the late New York Yankees star, was last auctioned nineteen years ago in 2005 for $940,000. However, at the time, the item was only linked to the 1932 World Series, and not directly to the famed pop culture moment where Ruth pointed his bat to the outfield stands prior to him hitting a home run into center field off Chicago Cubs pitcher Charlie Root.
The gesture was interpreted as Ruth pointing out where he was going to soon hit the ball.
Several companies had since connected the jersey to the one Ruth wore during the third game of the series at Wrigley Field, which greatly raised its value. It was Ruth’s final home run in a World Series.
Ruth hung up his cleats in 1935 and died at 53 years old in 1948.
He is widely recognized as the best baseball player of all time. Ruth won three World Series with the Boston Red Sox before being traded to the New York Yankees at the end of the 1919 season and went on to capture four more World Series titles.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe previous record for sports memorabilia was held by the auction of a 1952 rare excellent condition Topps baseball card of another famous Yankee, Mickey Mantle, which sold for $12.6M in 2022. The previous most expensive jersey to have been sold at auction was a Michael Jordan jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz, which sold for 10.1M in 2022.
When it was made public back in May that the Ruth jersey would be auctioned, Heritage’s director of sports auctions, Chris Ivy, predicted the item could sell for as much as $30M, and he was not far off.
“This is essentially the Mona Lisa. It’s s a very mythical moment that crosses over not only in baseball history, but American history, pop culture history,” Ivy told ESPN in an interview. “We’re still talking about it 100 years later, which is one of the reasons why I think it’s the most significant piece of sports memorabilia in the world. When it hits that new record, high tide raises all boats. I think more people are going to be interested in this hobby.”
While the identity of the buyer has been concealed, Ivy told ESPN there were a twelve people “on our mailing list that would pay between 15 and 20 million dollars” for the Ruth jersey.
