DALLAS — Almost a century later Babe Ruth called his at-bat during the 1932 World Series, the jersey worn by the New York Yankees slugger when he hit the home run to center field could sell at auction for as much as $30 million.
Heritage Auctions is offering the jersey Saturday night in Dallas.
Ruth’s famous, debated and oft-imitated “called shot” came when the Yankees and Chicago Cubs met in Game 3 of the World Series at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on October 1, 1932. In the fifth inning, Ruth made a pointing gesture when, at bat and then hit the home run off Cubs pitcher Charlie Root.
The Yankees won the game 7-5 and swept the Cubs the next day to win the series.
It was Ruth’s last World Series, and the “called shot” was his last home run in a World Series, said Mike Provenzale, director of production for Heritage’s sports department.
“When you can tie an item like that to an important figure and their most important moment, that’s what collectors are really looking for,” Provenzale said.
Heritage said Ruth gave the road shirt to one of his golf buddies in Florida around 1940 and it remained in that family for decades. Then, in the early 1990s, the man’s daughter sold it to a collector. It then sold at auction in 2005 for $940,000, and that buyer turned it over to Heritage this year.
2019, one of Ruth’s road jerseys from 1928-30 sold for $5.64 million in an auction conducted at Yankee Stadium. That shirt was part of a collection of items that Ruth’s family had put up for sale.
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Associated Press video journalist Kendria LaFleur contributed to this report.