The jersey Babe Ruth was wearing during one of the most iconic moments of his career is going up for auction, and it could sell for a record-breaking amount of money.
Ruth’s road grey New York Yankees jersey with the number 3 on the back will be put up for auction later this month — the same jersey he was wearing when he purportedly “called his shot” against the Chicago Cubs during the 1932 World Series.
And if the estimates of Heritage Auctions, the auction house facilitating the sale, come to fruition, the jersey could garner bids of more than $30 million — a figure that would smash the world record for the most expensive game-worn sports jersey ever sold.
“Ruth’s World Series jersey is the most significant piece of American sports memorabilia to be offered at auction in decades,” Chris Ivy, Director of Sports Auctions at Heritage said in a press release. “Given its history, its mythology, we expect that when the final bid is placed, it will hold the record as the most expensive sports collectible ever to cross the auction block.”
The myth of the “Called Shot” lives on because it happened in a time before baseball games were televised. Fans relied on newspaper reports to find out what happened at road games. According to Heritage Auctions, it was newspaper editor Joe Williams who wrote the headline crediting Ruth with calling his shot, like one would in billiards, when he gestured toward center field in the fifth inning and then hit a home run to that same part of the stadium on the next pitch.
The jersey has been “photo-matched more than any ever worn during a mythic moment,” according to a Heritage Auctions press release, and it has been authenticated twice. Heritage says in their press release that Ruth gifted the jersey to a man in Florida following a round of golf together, and it remained with him until his daughter auctioned it nearly 20 years ago.
Opening bids on the jersey have already reached $14 million, surpassing the $10.1-million amount that a jersey Michael Jordan wore in Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals sold for in September 2022.
The Babe Ruth jersey is part of Heritage Auction’s Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction event running from August 23 to 25. It also includes:
- A road grey Yankees jersey worn by Lou Gehrig in the 1938 season, near the end of his 2,130-game iron man streak.
- A Yankees jersey worn by Mickey Mantle in Game 7 of the 1952 World Series.
- A Yankees jersey worn by Joe DiMaggio in Game 5 of the 1947 Word Series.
- A bat used by Jackie Robinson during the 1955 season.
Check out Heritage Auctions’ website to see the Babe Ruth jersey listing and the rest of the items up for auction in the August 23-25 event.
