Babe Ruth Jersey Sells For Record-Breaking $24.12 Million At Auction

A Babe Ruth jersey sold at Heritage Auctions on Sunday for $24.12 million — officially making it the most expensive sports collectible ever.

"The Bambino" was wearing the jersey in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series against the Chicago Cubs when he called his shot before hitting a home run over the center field wall at Wrigley Field.

But did he really call his shot? That's been the subject of fierce debate for almost 100 years now.

In the fifth inning of the tied ballgame, Ruth made a pointing gesture while at bat. Some say he was indicating the count. Others claim he was pointing at the Cubs dugout. But the best (and most legendary) explanation is that he was calling his shot. And on the very next pitch, Ruth hit a home run off Cubs pitcher Charlie Root.

Babe Ruth won seven World Series titles — four with the Yankees.

(Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

The Yankees won the game 7-5 and swept the Cubs the next day to win the series. That was Ruth's last World Series and his final postseason home run.

"This is essentially the Mona Lisa," Heritage Auctions’ director of sports auctions, Chris Ivy told ESPN about the jersey. "It’s a very mythical moment that crosses over not only in baseball history, but American history, pop culture history. 

"We’re still talking about it 100 years later, which is one of the reasons why I think it’s the most significant piece of sports memorabilia in the world."

So where has the jersey been all this time? 

According to Heritage, Ruth gave the jersey to a friend he played golf with in Florida around 1940, and the man’s daughter sold it to a collector in the early 1990s. It then sold for $940,000 at auction in 2005. The most recent buyer chose to remain anonymous.

Prior to Sunday's auction, the most expensive sports collectible was a 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie card, which sold for $12.6 million in 2022.