The jersey worn by Babe Ruth when he hit his legendary “Called Shot” home run in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series will hit the auction block at Heritage this summer, the auction house announced Tuesday.
“The 1932 Babe Ruth game-worn 'Called Shot' jersey is the most significant piece of sports memorabilia in the hobby, and we are calling our shot now that it will set a new world record price when the final bid is placed in the Heritage Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction,” Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage, told cllct.
If Ivy’s prediction is proven true, that means the jersey would have to surpass the current record of $12.6 million set by a Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps card, which was sold at Heritage in August 2022.
Heritage has placed an estimate of $30 million and up on the jersey, with bidding starting at $7.5 million.
The jersey last sold at Grey Flannel Auctions for $940,000 in 2005. At the time, the Yankees jersey was not conclusively matched to the famous home run, though it was widely suspected to be the same one.
It was originally obtained from an elderly woman in Florida. She inherited the jersey from her father, who reportedly received the item directly from Ruth himself during a round of golf.
"If I were in a position to purchase this item with the provenance claimed for it, I would not hesitate a minute,” Marc Okkonen, author of "Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century, the Official Major League Baseball Guide" said at the time. “It certainly seems impossible that anyone could prove this was not the jersey worn on the historic occasion."
As of last month, the jersey has been matched to the October 1932 game in which Ruth hit the most famous home run in baseball history. According to a letter of authenticity provided by MeiGray, the road gray jersey was worn at the end of the 1932 season and beginning of the 1933 season. During that period, Ruth is believed to have worn around two or three road gray jerseys each season.
The current record for the most expensive Ruth jersey ever sold publicly — as well as the record for any baseball jersey — belongs to his 1928-30 road jersey, which sold for $5.64 million at Hunt Auctions in June 2019.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.