Babe Ruth 'called shot' Yankees jersey fetches record $24M - ESPN

In perhaps the most anticipated sports memorabilia auction ever, the jersey worn by baseball legend Babe Ruth when he «called his shot» in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series has sold for $24.12 million with Heritage Auctions, setting an auction record for most expensive sports collectible.

The sale of the New York Yankees road Ruth jersey, which includes the standard 20% buyer's premium, was available to the public for the first time in 19 years.

The previous record price for any sports collectible sold at auction was for a rare mint condition Topps 1952 Mickey Mantle card, which sold for $12.6 million in 2022. The Ruth jersey also far eclipsed the $10.1 million that a Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls jersey from Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals fetched at auction that same year.

The last time the Ruth jersey sold at auction was 2005, when it went for $940,000, but it was only linked to the 1932 World Series — not conclusively Game 3 or the «called shot,» when Ruth made a pointing gesture while at bat and then hit the home run into center field off Cubs pitcher Charlie Root. But multiple companies in recent years photo-matched the jersey to Game 3 of the World Series at Wrigley Field, which increased its value exponentially.

When Heritage announced the jersey's auction in May, Chris Ivy, Heritage Auctions' director of sports auctions, said it could fetch upward of $30 million and all but guaranteed that it would set a sports collectible record.

«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. «We're still talking about it 100 years later, which is one of the reasons why I think it's the most significant piece