In summary
A jersey belonging to baseball legend Babe Ruth could more than double the record price for sports memorabilia at an auction later this month.
New York Yankees player Ruth hit two home runs in the third game of the 1932 World Series in what was known as a “called shot” game.
What happens next?
The auction of his jersey from this game will be completed between August 23 and 25.
A New York Yankees jersey worn by U.S. baseball legend Babe Ruth could fetch more than $30 million ($45.5 million) at auction in late August, says Chris Ivy, head of sports auctions at Heritage Auctions.
Ruth wore the jersey during Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, a game remembered for the “Called Shot.”
It last sold at auction 19 years ago for just under $1 million, and has since been compared to the exact game in which Ruth hit two home runs, including one in which – after taking two strikes – he pointed his bat up the middle before hitting the next ball over the center field fence for a home run.
“In 1932, when Babe Ruth faced (Chicago Cubs pitcher) Charlie Root in the third game,” Ivy said, “we know he pointed, but we don’t know if he was pointing at the pitcher, if he was pointing at the Cubs players in the dugout, or if he was announcing his throw.”
“But that mystery is why we’re still talking about it almost 100 years later. And what we do know is that this is the shirt, the jersey that Babe Ruth wore that day.
“If this were a work of art, it would be like buying the Mona Lisa, which, as you know, is currently unavailable for purchase, but fortunately for sports collectors, it is available.
“Our estimate for the auction is over $30 million. The current price is around $17 million (US$25.8 million). So there are about 12 days left until the auction and we expect fireworks towards the end.”
Ruth is widely considered the greatest baseball player in the history of the sport and was one of the first five inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.
He hit 714 home runs in his career, which stood as a record for decades until it was surpassed by Hank Aaron in 1974.
The most expensive sports memorabilia ever sold to date is another baseball artifact: a mint condition baseball card of Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle, which sold for $12.6 million ($19.1 million) in August 2022.
A Chicago Bulls jersey worn by NBA legend Michael Jordan in Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz was sold by Sotheby’s for $10.1 million ($15.3 million) in September 2022.
The “Hand of God” jersey worn by Argentine football legend Maradona in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final against England, where he deflected the ball into the net with his hand without the referee’s knowledge, was sold by the same auction house in 2022 for £7.1 million ($13.8 million).
And the original Olympic Manifesto by International Olympic Committee co-founder Pierre de Coubertin from 1892, in which he outlined his reasons for reinstating the Games in the modern era, was sold in 2019 for the equivalent of $12.8 million.
Ernestine Miller and Kevin Baker, both authors of books about baseball and Babe Ruth, stopped by the auction house to view the jersey.
“This is a big deal for many reasons,” Miller said. “First of all, there is no one in the history of the sport that can boast the legacy of Babe Ruth.”
“And what he did for baseball is discussed and compared every day in our country, in the United States and around the world.”
“One of the most amazing plays in the history of American baseball, in American sports: an athlete actually promises to do something and then does it,” Baker said.
The auction final is scheduled for August 23-25.
Reuters/ABC
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