Babe Ruth's 1932 Yankee Jersey Sells for Record-Breaking $24M

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Facts

  • The baseball jersey that Babe Ruth wore during a historic game three win in the 1932 World Series, in which his New York Yankees defeated the Chicago Cubs, sold for a record-breaking $24.1M at auction on Sunday.[1]
  • The game remains at the heart of continuing debate among baseball fans and historians — particularly whether, as some suggest, Ruth 'called his shot' by pointing to center field ahead of the pitch, before proceeding to hit the ball in that direction for a home run that won the game.[2]
  • Others suggest that, amid jeering during the heated game, Ruth was merely putting up two fingers to the Cubs bench, telling them that he had two strikes with one remaining.[3]
  • Chris Ivy, director of sports at the Heritage auction house that sold the jersey, described it as 'the most significant piece of American sports memorabilia ever offered at auction,' calling it an 'extraordinary artifact.'[2]
  • Previously, in 2005, the jersey sold at auction for $940K. However, at the time, it had only been linked to the 1932 World Series and not game three's much-debated incident.[4]
  • By selling for $24.1M, it topped the previous record for a piece of sports memorabilia set in 2022, when a 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6M. The same year, a Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls jersey worn during the first game of the 1998 NBA Finals sold for $10.1M.[5]

Sources: [1]Al Jazeera, [2]Associated Press, [3]Bleed Cubbie Blue, [4]Guardian and [5]MLB.com.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Associated Press. While debate continues about the 'called shot' incident, video footage of the play supports the theory that Ruth pointed to where he intended on hitting the ball before sending it in that direction. Ruth himself also said that's what took place in commentary after the incident.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Bleed Cubbie Blue. Contemporaneous accounts of what took place that day indicate that Ruth held up two fingers at the Cubs bench to indicate there had only been two strikes. The legend that surrounds this incident is nothing more than an attempt to embellish.

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