New York (AFP) – A jersey belonging to US baseball legend Babe Ruth shattered the record for the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia ever auctioned on Sunday, fetching $24.1 million. The online auction for the New York Yankee’s jersey lasted several weeks, and it was expected to best the previous record: $12.6 million paid in August 2022 for a baseball card for Mickey Mantle.
Until 2022, no piece of sports memorabilia had ever broken the symbolic $10-million mark, but that year saw both the Mantle card and a jersey worn by basketball great Michael Jordan blow past the threshold. The Bambino — one of Ruth’s monikers — wore the record-breaking jersey during a historic game against the Chicago Cubs in the 1932 World Series.
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Ruth was being heckled by the opposition, and he reportedly responded by pointing deep into the center-field stands, before pounding the next pitch exactly in that direction for a home run. The Yankees went on to win the game and the World Series, the final championship win of Ruth’s career.
Years after his retirement, Ruth donated the jersey to a golf partner. It was subsequently sold three times, most recently in 2005 for $940,000.
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