New Delhi: At $ 24.1 Million, late MLB superstar Babe Ruth has broken all records in the auction market when it comes to sports memorabilia. The New York Yankees’ jersey went under the hammer for one of the largest prices ever recorded for sports memorabilia.
The online auction which dragged on for weeks was expected to match the previous record of $ 12.6 million if not beat it. This amount was paid in August 2022 for a baseball card for Mickey Mantle. But to everyone’s surprise, that record was broken by a huge margin in the recently concluded auction.
Sports memorabilia is something which usually does not fetch much price in the auction market. Naturally, a threshold limit of $ 10 million has been set which has been seen as highly unlikely to be breached. However, that mark has been broken twice in 2 years (the 2022 and the 2024 auction). Now, time will only tell whether these two are isolated incidents or whether the sports memorabilia also has some magnetic pull for money.
Babe Ruth and the Story of $ 24 Million Jersey
Ruth who was known as Bambino in the sporting circles had won the jersey during an important game against the Chicago Cubs during the 1932 World Series. Bambino was continuously jeered by the audience who had taken a liking to disturb such a legendary player from the opposition. According to popular belief and opinion, Ruth had pointed deep towards the centre-field stage.
Subsequently, the left-handed hitter pounded the ball in the same place where he had pointed the pitcher earlier. This was a reminder and a statement from Babe of how good a player he was. Eventually, the Yankees went on to win the game as well as the World Series.
Years later when Babe Ruth decided to bid his goodbye to baseball, the American superstar decided to donate his jersey to a golf partner. Since then the jersey has been sold thrice, the latest being in 2005 for $ 940,000.
