Nearly a century after Babe Ruth called his pitch at the 1932 World Series, the jersey the New York Yankees slugger wore when he hit the home run into center field could sell for as much as $30 million at auction.
Heritage Auctions will offer the jersey on Saturday night in Dallas.
Ruth’s famous, controversial and often imitated “called shot” occurred when the Yankees and the Chicago Cubs faced off in Game 3 of the World Series at Wrigley Field in Chicago on October 1, 1932. In the fifth inning, Ruth made a pointing gesture while batting and then hit the home run against Cubs pitcher Charlie Root.
The Yankees won the game 7-5 and defeated the Cubs the next day, winning the series.
That was Ruth’s last World Series, and the called shot was his last home run in a World Series, said Mike Provenzale, production manager for Heritage’s sports department.
LM Otero – AP Photo
“If you can associate an object like this with an important person and their most important moment, that’s what collectors are really looking for,” Provenzale said.
Heritage said Ruth gave the away jersey to one of his golf buddies in Florida around 1940 and it remained in that family for decades. The man’s daughter then sold it to a collector in the early 1990s. It was auctioned for $940,000 in 2005 and that buyer gave it to Heritage this year.
In 2019, one of Ruth’s 1928-30 away jerseys sold for $5.64 million at an auction at Yankee Stadium. That jersey was part of a collection of items Ruth’s family had put up for sale.
