SCP Auctions press release
Prior to hitting the auction block, the jersey is featured on display in the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum from 2005-09.
Babe Ruth is still setting records.
A New York Yankees road jersey worn by the Sultan of Swat in the 1920s sold for a whopping $4.4 million at the same auction, setting a world record for any sports memorabilia item.
California-based SCP Auctions handled the sale of George Herman “Babe” Ruth’s jersey, which officially came in at $4,415,658.
“We are honored to, once again, be a part of history," David Kohler, president of SCP Auctions, said in a statement. "This proves again that Babe Ruth is ‘king’ in the sports memorabilia world.”
The Bambino’s gray jersey features “NEW YORK” across the chest in blue lettering, with Ruth’s name and initials written inside the collar in faded pink script — “Ruth, G.H.”
SCP Auctions press release
The circa-1920 Babe Ruth road Yankees jersey brings in $4.4M at auction.
It’s the highest sale price for a piece of sports memorabilia since 2010 when the original rules of basketball — written by Dr. James Naismith, who created the game at a Springfield, Mass., YMCA in 1891 — was sold by Soetheby’s for a then-record $4,338,500. The person behind the winning bid for the Ruth jersey is choosing to remain anonymous, SCP said.
The famous T-206 Honus Wagner tobacco baseball card — which until Saturday was the most expensive piece of baseball memorabilia — sold at auction for $2.8M in 2007.
There were 36 bids placed on the Ruth jersey, which hit the auction block on April 30, according to SCP. It was loaned by a private collector to the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum in Baltimore (where it was on display from 2004-09) before it was put up for auction. The $4.4M sale price was more than
Ruth was sold by the Boston Red Sox to the Yankees on Jan. 5, 1920 and hit 54 home runs in his first season with New York — more than every team in the major leagues that year save for Philadelphia.
After selling Ruth in 1920, Boston went 84 years without another championship while the Yankees won 26 over that span, giving birth to the Curse of the Bambino. The Red Sox finally broke the curse in 2004, ending an 86-year drought and siliencing “1918” chants at Yankee Stadium.
SCP Auctions press release
SCP Auctions says it’s the earliest known jersey worn by Ruth.
Sold in the same auction was Lawrence Taylor’s Super Bowl ring ($230,401), the cap worn by Bobby Thomson for his “Shot Heard ’Round the World” home run in 1951 ($173,102), a Ruth cap that was owned — and worn — by former Yankee David Wells ($537,278), and a jersey worn (and signed) by Mickey Mantle when he hit his 535th home run ($366,967).
In addition to the Babe’s jersey hitting the market, the Hall of Famer’s former Massachusetts home has a For Sale sign out front. The asking price for the 5,124 square foot home in Sudbury, Mass., is $1.6M.
