The Sultan of Swat. The King of Crash. The Colossus of Clout. The Great Bambino. If that just gave you intense flashbacks to watching The Sandlot in your elementary school classroom, join the club. Eighty-four years after he retired from the game, Babe Ruth’s legacy is immortalized in the Baseball Hall of Fame, countless films and books, Baby Ruth candy bars, and several prized collectibles that he left behind.
This record-setting Babe Ruth heirloom joined a small collection of items sold at Yankee Stadium by Hunt Auctions. The auction gathered pieces from third-party collectors as well as Babe Ruth’s surviving family members.
Before the 1928-1930 jersey (above), this circa 1920 Babe jersey held the record for the most expensive sports memorabilia ever sold. The item was sold in 2012 to Lelands.com, a sports memorabilia auction house, and a spokesperson said they would sell the jersey privately.
After six seasons with the Red Sox and three World Series wins, Babe Ruth found a new home with the Yankees in a historic purchase. For only $125,000 (or around $1.66 million today adjusted for inflation), the Yankees bought the player who would accrue enough revenue to move the team to the new Yankee Stadium, “the house that Ruth built.” An original copy of the contract, previously owned by Charlie Sheen, sold in 2017 for twice the amount that the other original copy did in 2005.
World Series Ring
His ring—inscribed with “G H Ruth” (for George Herman Ruth)—also belonged to Sheen. It sold for more than four times the price of any other sports ring auctioned previously. Sheen owned both the ring and the contract for approximately 20 years and said he “felt it was time for a new owner.”
Bat From First Home Run at Yankee Stadium
Ruth is quoted as saying, “I'd give a year of my life if I can hit a home run in the first game in this new park.” On April 18, 1923, he got his wish on the stadium’s opening day. A Chicago sports memorabilia company, Mastronet, Inc., purchased the bat in 2004—the same year Boston’s decades-long drought is said to have ended.