Nearly 100 years after Babe Ruth’s iconic moment in the 1932 World Series, his jersey from that game could be sold for as much as $30 million. Heritage Auctions will be presenting the jersey at an auction in Dallas on Saturday night.
The legendary “called shot” happened during Game 3 of the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on October 1, 1932. In the fifth inning, Ruth made a pointing gesture while at bat and then hit a home run off Cubs pitcher Charlie Root.
The Yankees won that game 7-5 and went on to sweep the Cubs, winning the series. This game was Ruth’s final World Series appearance, and the “called shot” was his last World Series home run, according to Mike Provenzale, the production manager for Heritage’s sports department.
“When you can connect an item like this to a key figure and their most significant moment, that’s exactly what collectors are after,” Provenzale said.
Heritage mentioned that Ruth gave the jersey to a golfing friend in Florida around 1940, and it stayed within that family for decades. In the early 1990s, the daughter of that friend sold it to a collector. It was later auctioned in 2005 for $940,000, and that buyer has now consigned it to Heritage.
In 2019, another one of Ruth’s road jerseys, dating from 1928-30, sold for $5.64 million at an auction held at Yankee Stadium. That jersey was part of a collection of items that Ruth’s family had put up for sale.