I’m no baseball expert, but I certainly know who Babe Ruth is. Hell, there’s a candy bar named after him. But I would have fainted had I been at the Heritage Auction house this week when Babe’s Jersey went on the block.
The jersey, which Babe famously wore one night in the 1932 World Series when he took his bat and pointed out where his next home run would go. And then successfully hitting that ball out of the park, just where he predicted.
This week it sold for $24.12 million. Now the most expensive memorabilia item in sports.
“This is essentially the Mona Lisa,” said Heritage Auctions director of sports auctions Chris Ivy. “It’s s a very mythical moment that crosses over not only in baseball history, but American history, pop culture history. 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.”
