Getty Image / B. Bennett
An iconic New York Yankees jersey worn by Babe Ruth during the most famous at-bat of his legendary career just sold at auction for a jaw-dropping $24,120,000.
When the jersey was last sold 20+ years ago for $975,000 the buyer was ridiculed by some for spending a million dollars on sports memorabilia but they certainly got the last laugh as with a more than 24x return on their investment.
Babe Ruth’s Iconic Jersey Makes History At Auction
This was the jersey that the Great Bambino wore during Game 3 of the 1932 World Series. Babe Ruth and the Yankees were playing the Chicago Cubs are Wrigley Field on October 1st, 1932, and in the fifth inning when George Herman Ruth came up to bat he ‘called his shot.’
Ruth took the plate and pointed his bat to the outfield, pointing past pitcher Charlie Root. Then he went yard on the very next pitch and hit what is arguably the most famous home run in baseball history.
It’s arguably the most famous moment in baseball history even though most people who witnessed it at the time are no longer around to tell the tale. ‘Ham’ recreated the iconic moment in The Sandlot…
Michael Gibbons is the director emeritus and a historian at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum in Baltimore and told CBS News that Babe Ruth calling his shot “is the most dramatic moment in World Series history, and it may be the most dramatic moment ever in all of baseball.”
Babe Ruth’s jersey was sold by Heritage Auctions who also displayed the jersey at Wrigley Field last month for fans to see.
There has been some controversy surrounding Babe Ruth ‘calling his shot’ over the years. Heritage Auction made mention of that in their listing. They wrote “of course, the kind of mystery that permeates the history of The Called Shot has long since been driven to extinction by the modern ubiquity of the camera’s eye. Just a single, grainy film reel can be entered into evidence for this event, captured at an angle that leaves the direction of Ruth’s gesture unclear. The doubters are just as likely to claim the footage proves that Ruth’s hand points only toward the Chicago Cubs dugout as believers are to insist that it validates the popular center field narrative.”
Babe Ruth himself addressed ‘calling his shot’ after the game. Saying “to me, it was the funniest, proudest moment I had ever had in baseball. I jogged down toward first base, rounded it, looked back at the Cub bench and suddenly got convulsed with laughter. You should have seen those Cubs. There they were-all out on the top step and yelling their brains out – and then [I] connected and they watched it and then fell back as if they were being machine-gunned.”
This is arguably the most iconic jersey in baseball history. Is it worth $24.12 million? Well, to someone it was. Hopefully, whoever bought this at auction will put it on display for baseball fans to see.