A shirt belonging to baseball legend Babe Ruth has set a new record for the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia ever auctioned, fetching $24.1m after a bidding war that lasted over six hours. The auction for his New York Yankees shirt began in July and culminated in the record-breaking sale on Sunday. The buyer chose to remain anonymous, according to Heritage Auctions.
The previous record for the most expensive sports object sold at auction was $12.6m for a Mickey Mantle baseball card in 2022. In that same year, both the Mantle card and a shirt worn by Michael Jordan surpassed the $10m mark, marking a significant milestone in sports memorabilia sales.
The shirt worn by Ruth, known as the “called shot” shirt, was worn during a historic game against the Chicago Cubs in the 1932 World Series. During the game, Ruth famously pointed to where he wanted the ball to go and proceeded to hit a home run in that exact direction, solidifying his place in baseball history.
The significance of the shirt lies in its connection to Ruth’s most important moment in his last World Series and last championship win of his career. The shirt was originally given to a friend of Ruth’s in Florida and remained in that family for decades before being sold at auction in 2005. It was then consigned to Heritage this year, leading to its record-breaking sale.
Chris Ivy, Heritage’s director of sports, described the jersey as “the most significant piece of American sports memorabilia ever offered at auction”, emphasizing the importance of collecting items tied to important figures and moments in history. Overall, the sale of Ruth’s shirt has solidified his status as one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
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