The jersey Babe Ruth wore for his last World Series Home Run in 1932 has been sold at auction for a world record for sports memorabilia.
The auction lasted six hours in New York, home of the Yankees. When the final hammer fell, the number on the board was $24.2 million.
Ruth himself had given the shirt to a golfing friend in the 1940s, and it stayed in his family until it sold for a six-figure sum in the 1990s
“It has been an honour and a privilege to work with this incredible piece of American history, and I am proud that it will now be part of one of the finest private collections in the world,” said Chris Ivy, a Director at Heritage Auctions who sold the jersey.
“It is clear by the strong auction participation and record price achieved that astute collectors have no doubt as to what this Ruth jersey is and what it represents. The legend of Babe Ruth and the myth and mystery surrounding his ‘called shot’ are united in this one extraordinary artefact.”
It has been verified by comparing it to pictures taken at the time. The shot became known as ‘The Called Shot’ and lives on to this day in the pointing forward of sports people and others when they have played a good shot or made a good point.
Myth and mystery are things that sport does well in so many ways.
This is a pretty extraordinary price tag to put on its value.
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