A baseball shirt worn by Babe Ruth, one of the greatest baseball players of all time, has sold in the US for a record $24.1 million (£18.2 million).
The New York Yankees jersey was worn by Ruth when he hit a home run to help his team win the 1932 World Series in one of the most famous moments in the game’s history.
Ruth is known to have gestured toward the outfield before pitching the ball, leading to the theory that he was “calling his shot” before hitting the home run.
Sports fans competed for more than six hours before a collector won the auction, breaking the previous record for sports memorabilia set two years ago when a collector paid $12.6 million (£9.53 million) for a trading card featuring Ruth’s legendary Yankee colleague Micky Mantle.
Ruth kept the jersey after he retired and then gave it to a friend, whose daughter eventually sold it for a six-figure sum in the 1990s. It was auctioned again in 2005 for $940,000 (£711,000).
Chris Ivy, sports director at Heritage Auctions, who sold the jersey, said it was “the most significant piece of American sports memorabilia ever offered at auction.”
He said: “It has been an honor and a privilege to work with this incredible piece of American history, and I am proud that it will now be part of one of the finest private collections in the world.
“The strong auction turnout and record price achieved clearly demonstrate that savvy collectors have no doubts about what this Ruth jersey is and what it represents. The legend of Babe Ruth and the myth and mystery surrounding his ‘aimed shot’ are combined in this extraordinary artifact.”
Ruth, who died in 1948, was elected to the sport’s Hall of Fame in 1936 as one of the “first five” founding members and is a legendary figure in American sports.
