DALLAS — The shirt Babe Ruth wore it when he announced his shot during the 1932 World Series, in which he hit a home run to center field, was auctioned Sunday morning for more than $24 million.
The New York Yankee slugger’s jersey sold for a record $24.12 million after a bidding war that lasted more than six hours when it went on the market in Dallas, according to Heritage Auctions. The buyer wishes to remain anonymous, Heritage said.
The amount the jersey sold for exceeded fellow Yankee Mickey Mantle’s 1952 rookie card, which the Dallas auction house was sold for $12.6 million in 2022.
Chris Ivy, Heritage’s sporting director, called the jersey “the most significant piece of American sports memorabilia ever offered at auction.” He said in a press release that it was clear from the bidding that “astute collectors have no doubt what this Ruth jersey is and what it represents.”
“The legend of Babe Ruth and the myth and mystery surrounding his ‘whistled shot’ are united in this one extraordinary artifact,” Ivy said.
Ruth’s famous, talked about and oft-imitated “called shot” came when the Yankees and Chicago Cubs faced off in Game 3 of the World Series at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on October 1, 1932. In the fifth inning of the heated game, Ruth made a pointing gesture while at bat and subsequently hit the home run against Cubs pitcher Charlie Root.
“It’s the most dramatic moment in World Series history, and it may be the most dramatic moment in all of baseball history,” said Michael Gibbons, director emeritus and historian at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum in Baltimore.
The Yankees won the game 7–5 and defeated the Cubs the next day to win the series.
That was Ruth’s last World Series, and the “whistled shot” was his last home run in a World Series, said Mike Provenzale, Heritage’s sports department production manager.
“If you can connect an item like that to an important person and their most important moment, that’s what collectors are really looking for,” Provenzale said.
Heritage said Ruth gave the road uniform to one of his golfing buddies in Florida around 1940, and it remained in the family for decades. Then, in the early 1990s, the man’s daughter sold it to a collector. It was then auctioned off in 2005 for $940,000 and remained in a private collection until it was transferred to Heritage this year.
There has been debate for decades about whether Ruth actually called the ball. But Gibbons said there is home-movie footage from the game that shows Ruth pointing, though it is not clear whether he is pointing at the pitcher, center field or the Cubs bench. In any case, he said, Ruth, who has a history of making predictions, clearly said “something was going to happen on the next pitch and he made it happen.” And, he said, Ruth himself said he called the ball.
“We certainly think he took his chance,” Gibbons said.
News footage shows Ruth rounding the bases after the home run and making a pushing gesture toward the Cubs bench, as if to say, “I got you,” Gibbons said.
The called shot was an extraordinary moment from a man Gibbons called “the standard bearer for all of Major League Baseball.”
“He was always uplifting, he was something very positive for this country to cheer for,” Gibbons said. “And then he tops it off by calling his shot.”
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Associated Press video journalist Kendria LaFleur contributed to this report.