DALLAS (AP) 鈥� The jersey during the 1932 World Series, hitting a home run to center field, sold at auction early Sunday for over $24 million.
Heritage Auctions said the New York Yankee slugger's jersey went for a record-breaking $24.12 million after a bidding war that lasted over six hours when it went on the block in Dallas. The buyer wishes to remain anonymous, Heritage said.
The amount that the jersey sold for topped fellow Yankee Mickey Mantle's 1952 rookie card, which the Dallas-based auction house
Chris Ivy, Heritage鈥檚 director of sports, calls the jersey 鈥渢he most significant piece of American sports memorabilia ever offered at auction.鈥� He said in a news release that it was clear from the bidding that 鈥漚stute collectors have no doubt as to what this Ruth jersey is and what it represents.鈥�
鈥淭he legend of Babe Ruth and the myth and mystery surrounding his 鈥榗alled shot鈥� are united in this one extraordinary artifact,鈥� Ivy said.
Ruth's famed, debated and often imitated 鈥渃alled shot鈥� came as the Yankees and Chicago Cubs faced off in Game 3 of the World Series at Chicago's Wrigley Field on Oct. 1, 1932. In the fifth inning of the heated game, Ruth made a pointing gesture while at bat and then hit the home run off Cubs pitcher Charlie Root.
鈥淚t is the most dramatic moment in World Series history, and it may be the most dramatic moment ever in all of baseball,鈥� said Michael Gibbons, director emeritus and historian at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum in Baltimore.
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 the 鈥渃alled shot鈥� was his last home run in a World Series, said Mike Provenzale, the production manager for Heritage鈥檚 sports department.
鈥淲hen you can tie an item like that to an important figure and their most important moment, that鈥檚 what collectors are really looking for,鈥� Provenzale said.
Heritage said Ruth gave the road jersey to one of his golfing buddies in Florida around 1940 and it remained in that family for decades. Then, in the early 1990s, that man's daughter sold it to a collector. It was then sold at auction in 2005 for $940,000 and remained in a private collection until being consigned to Heritage this year.
There's been debate for decades over whether Ruth really called the shot. But Gibbons said there's home movie footage of the game that shows Ruth pointing, though it's not clear whether he鈥檚 pointing at the pitcher, center field or toward the Cubs bench. Regardless, he said, Ruth, who had a history of making predictions, clearly 鈥渟aid something鈥檚 going to happen on the next pitch and he made it happen.鈥� And, he said, Ruth himself said he'd called the shot.
鈥淲e think certainly that he did call his shot,鈥� Gibbons said.
News reel footage shows Ruth rounding the bases after the home run and making a pushing out gesture toward the Cubs bench, as if to say 鈥淚 gotcha,鈥� Gibbons said.
The 鈥渃alled shot,鈥� was an extraordinary moment from a man Gibbons called 鈥渢he standard-bearer for all of Major League Baseball.鈥�
鈥淗e was always uplifting, he was something very positive for this country to root for,鈥� Gibbons said. 鈥淭hen he caps it all off by calling his shot.鈥�
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Associated Press video journalist Kendria LaFleur contributed to this report.
Jamie Stengle, The Associated Press
