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Babe Ruth's Historic 1932 World Series Jersey Becomes Most Valuable Sports Collectible After $24.12 Million Auction
The jersey surpassed the coveted high-grade 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card, which set an auction record in 2022
CORBIS/Corbis via Getty;Heritage Auctions
Babe Ruth's 1932 World Series jersey sold for $24.12 million on Aug. 24, 2024Babe Ruth just hit another one out of the park!
A 91-year-old jersey belonging to the Yankees legend just sold at auction for a record-smashing $24.12 million, becoming what Heritage Auctions is now calling the single most valuable sports collectible in the world.
On Saturday, Aug. 24, Heritage sold Ruth's historic "called shot" jersey — the one he wore during game 3 of the 1932 World Series when he famously gestured with his bat and hit a home run into center field at Chicago's Wrigley Field.
Heritage Auctions
Babe Ruth's 1932 World Series jersey, which sold at auction for $24.12 millionRelated: Mint 1952 Mickey Mantle Topps Card Shatters Auction Record as Most Expensive Ever Sold
The $24.12 million sale price surpasses the previous record holder, a mint 1952 Mickey Mantle Topps card that Heritage sold at an auction in August 2022 for $12.6 million.
The sale followed a six-hour bidding war during its Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction, of which the Ruth jersey was its centerpiece, per a release from the auctioneer,
The item was photo-matched by multiple third-party authenticators, including Professional Sports Authenticator and MeiGray Authenticated, meaning professionals used photos of the game to determine that the now-collectible was Ruth's jersey worn on Oct. 1, 1932.
Heritage’s Director of Sports, Chris Ivy, called the Ruth jersey “the most significant piece of American sports memorabilia ever offered at auction.”
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“It has been an honor 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,” Ivy said in the release.
“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," he added. "The legend of Babe Ruth and the myth and mystery surrounding his ‘called shot’ are united in this one extraordinary artifact.”
As for how the jersey got into the hands of Heritage, the auctioneer noted that Ruth gifted the jersey to a golfing friend in Florida in the 1940s, before the friend's daughter sold it for six figures to a sports auction pioneer, who later sold it to an anonymous collector. That person then consigned the jersey to auction in 2005 when it last sold for $940,000.
Related: Aaron Judge Ties Babe Ruth's 95-Year-Old Record with 60th Home Run
The Ruth jersey marks the most anyone has ever paid for a game-used jersey at auction. The previous record holder on that front, per ESPN, was Michael Jordan's 1998 NBA Finals game 1 jersey, which sold for $10.1 million in 2022.
"This is essentially the Mona Lisa. It's a very mythical moment that crosses over not only in baseball history, but American history, pop culture history," Ivy told the outlet.
"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."
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