The jersey worn by baseball legend Babe Ruth when he “took command” and hit a home run in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series has sold for a record $24.1 million (£18.1 million) at Heritage Auctions.
The jersey became the most expensive sports collectible ever sold at auction – the jersey in question, owned by the late New York Yankees star, last sold at auction in 2005 for $940,000. But at the time, the item was only associated with the 1932 World Series, not the famous episode in which Ruth pointed his bat into the outfield stands before hitting a home run to center field off Chicago Cubs pitcher Charlie Root.
The gesture was interpreted as pointing to the spot where Ruth would soon hit the ball.
Since then, its value has skyrocketed as multiple businesses have matched the jersey to the one Ruth wore in Game 3 of the Series at Wrigley Field, which was Ruth's final World Series home run.
Ruth retired from baseball in 1935 and died in 1948 at the age of 53.
He is widely regarded as the greatest baseball player of all time. Ruth won three World Series championships with the Boston Red Sox before joining the New York Yankees at the end of the 1919 season, where he won four more World Series championships.
The previous record for a piece of sports memorabilia was a rare, mint-condition Topps baseball card of Mickey Mantle from 1952, which sold for $12.6 million in 2022. The most expensive jersey ever sold at auction was a Michael Jordan jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals, which sold for £7.64 million ($10.1 million) in 2022.
When it was announced in May that Ruth's jersey would be auctioned, Heritage's director of sports auctions, Chris Ivey, predicted the item could sell for $30 million.
“This is essentially the Mona Lisa. It's a very mythical moment, not just in baseball history, but in American history, pop culture history,” Ivey told ESPN in an interview. “100 years later, we're still talking about it, which is one of the reasons I think it's the most important piece of sports memorabilia in the world. If this painting sets a new record, a high tide lifts all boats. I think it will get more people interested in the hobby.”
The identity of the buyer of Ruth's record-breaking jersey has not been made public.
