Have you ever thought, “Sure, I’ve got $15 million burnin’ a hole in my pocket, but what’s the right piece of baseball memorabilia for me?!”
We’ve discussed the work of Heritage Auctions previously. Maybe, though, you’re disappointed because the Rangers don’t appear to making that second half run we were hoping for during the All-Star Game.
They can help out.
The jersey Babe Ruth was wearing when he called his shot is now up for auction along with a ticket from the game.
Bidding is about $15 million now, but Heritage Auction’s Chris Ivy says they could wind up closer to $30 million.
We talked about how this game has become a legendary moment in baseball history, and Babe Ruth, who totally had his life together, was more than willing to feed into the legend.
Heritage expects the jersey to set a record for the most expensive collectible ever. Ironically, you know who probably couldn’t afford Babe Ruth’s jersey? Babe Ruth.
Maybe you’re not made of money, either. For just $4 million, you could own a Mickey Mantle jersey; a mere $40,000 could get you his 515th home run ball where he also thanks a fella for some cuff links.
Different players will appeal to different people. For some reason, beer swillin’ malcontents appeal to me, and I remember watching Mickey Mantle’s funeral on TV with my dad as a wee munchkin.
In that clip, he talks about how baseball is a family game where a lot of kids grow up rooting for the same team as their parents. I went the opposite direction, and my reputation precedes me. Even though Ivy and I had met exactly once before, he remembered Ol’ Scaia as a Montreal Expos fan.
The auction has a variety of baseball cards, bats, a pocket watch I advise you not to bid on because I would like to own it, and other memorabilia.
Several players have jerseys up for auction, including Hank Aaron, Joe Dimaggio and Willie Mays.
Ivy says different fans will appreciate different things, but regardless of whether you support the Montreal Expos, a heroic if not tragic organization, or the New York Yankees, Major League Baseball’s answer to the First Galactic Empire, some items can bring us all together.
We can all agree Babe Ruth’s called shot jersey is the Mona Lisa of sports collecting.
After seeing all this baseball history, my observation upon seeing Hank Aaron’s jersey from his rookie year was everyone must have smelled awful.
That helps ensure everything is authentic, though. Heritage can ensure that’s the jersey Babe Ruth wore when he called his shot because that is Babe Ruth’s sweat stain.
