Babe Ruth Archives

Babe Ruth’s 1932 ‘called shot’ jersey sells for record $24.12M

August 26, 2024

Almost a century after Babe Ruth called his shot during the 1932 World Series, he’s made history again. More specifically, his jersey has. The jersey worn by the New York Yankees slugger when he hit the home run to center field sold at auction for a record $24.12 million on Saturday, Aug. 24.

https://twitter.com/Heritage_Sport/status/1827642111451160645

Ruth’s famous “called shot” came as the Yankees and Chicago Cubs faced off in game three of the World Series at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on Oct. 1, 1932.

In the fifth inning, Ruth made a pointing gesture while at bat and then hit the home run off Cubs pitcher Charlie Root, ultimately leading to the Yankees winning the World Series.

The jersey is now the most expensive sports memorabilia ever sold at auction, according to MLB.com.
Israel strikes Hezbollah site in Lebanon; both sides claim victory

August 26, 2024
Israel and Hezbollah are both claiming victories after their biggest exchange of fire yet. And two NASA astronauts stuck aboard the International Space Station will have to stay there a few more months. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Monday, Aug. 26, 2024.

Israel strikes Hezbollah site in Lebanon; both sides claim victory

There are new concerns over the war in the Middle East expanding into a larger conflict after Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon had their biggest exchange of fire since the conflict broke out in the region ten months ago. Both sides are claiming victories.

On Sunday, Aug. 25, Israel launched what it described as “a preemptive strike” against a major attack that Hezbollah was planning to launch on Israeli soil. Israel said 100 of its military planes successfully took out thousands of “rocket launcher barrels,” and six Hezbollah fighters were killed.

https://twitter.com/HananyaNaftali/status/1827619715558080917

Hours later, Israel’s missile defense system intercepted 300 rockets and drones launched by Hezbollah toward Israel. The Israel Defense Forces said one navy officer was killed after being hit by shrapnel when the Iron Dome was intercepting the drones.

In a televised address, Hezbollah’s leader called this a victory for their side, saying the attack was in retaliation for the recent assassination of one of its founders.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this attack “will not be the final word.”

https://twitter.com/netanyahu/status/1827580407560261834

ISIS claims responsibility for deadly Germany stabbing attack

ISIS has now claimed responsibility for a deadly stabbing attack in Germany that happened during a festival Friday night, Aug. 23. A 26-year-old man from Syria has been arrested in connection with the attack.

Police said the man turned himself in for the knife attack that left three people dead, and eight others injured. Officials say the man has “radical Islamist beliefs” and “wanted to kill as many people as possible.”

https://twitter.com/HDNER/status/1827662205870903441

ISIS said in a statement Saturday, Aug. 24, the man is “a soldier for the Islamic state” who was “targeting Christians” in his attack.

The festival was commemorating the 650th anniversary of the western German city of Solingen.

Harris, Trump campaigns to focus on battleground states this week

On the campaign trail, the 2024 candidates are focusing on battleground states this week. Vice President Kamala Harris will be launching a bus tour in southern Georgia and former President Donald Trump will hit multiple swing states.

On Monday, Aug. 26, Trump is set to address the National Guard Association’s conference in Detroit. He’s also slated to hold a rally in Michigan, a town hall in Wisconsin, and a rally in Pennsylvania.

This comes after both campaigns had big weeks last week.

Harris officially accepted her party’s nomination for president at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, Aug. 22. The Harris campaign said they’ve raised $540 million in only a month since it launched.

And Trump got the endorsement of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday, after the third-party candidate suspended his bid for president.

Polls taken before Kennedy’s endorsement show the race remains close, especially in the seven battleground states.

Republicans have sharpened their criticism on the lack of press events held by Harris.

https://twitter.com/NBCPolitics/status/1827035796437610674

While she hasn’t yet done a sit-down interview with the media since emerging as a presidential candidate, that will soon change. She is expected to sit down with her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to record their first joint interview next week.

NASA astronauts to stay on ISS until February

Two NASA astronauts who have been stuck on the International Space Station since June will have to stay there a few more months. On Saturday, the space agency decided it’s not safe enough for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to return to Earth in Boeing’s Starliner.

Concerns linger over multiple helium leaks and degraded thrusters. Instead, Wilmore and Williams will wait until February when SpaceX already has a mission to the ISS planned and will pick them up.

https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1827397371975676051?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

“Spaceflight is risky even at its safest,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “And so, the decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring the Boeing Starliner home uncrewed is a result of a commitment to safety.”

The decision means two of the four astronauts who were supposed to go to the ISS in February for the SpaceX mission will have to give up their seats so NASA’s astronauts can finally come home. They were originally only supposed to stay on the ISS for about a week.

Meanwhile, SpaceX is getting ready for a high-stakes mission Tuesday, Aug. 27. Private astronauts on the Polaris mission are set to attempt the first-ever commercial spacewalk.

Long Labor Day weekend travel expected to break records

We’re just days away from the unofficial end of summer and this Labor Day travel weekend is gearing up to be a busy one. The TSA predicts it will be the busiest Labor Day travel period on record.

The agency expects more than 17 million passengers to fly between this Thursday, Aug. 29 and next Wednesday, Sept. 4.

AAA predicts the roads won’t be any less crowded, as gas prices are lower than last year.

If you are hitting the road, AAA said expect the heaviest traffic in the afternoon and early evening hours of Thursday and Friday, Aug. 30. For those traveling on Saturday, Aug. 31, AAA suggests departing in the afternoon for smoother traffic.

If you’re returning home on Sunday, Sept. 1, or Labor Day, Sept. 2, AAA said it’s best to leave as early as possible to avoid heavy afternoon traffic.

Babe Ruth’s 1932 ‘called shot’ jersey sells for record $24.12M

Almost a century after Babe Ruth called his shot during the 1932 World Series he’s made history again. More specifically, his jersey has.

The jersey worn by the New York Yankees slugger when he hit the home run to center field sold at auction for a record $24.12 million on Saturday.

https://twitter.com/Heritage_Sport/status/1827642111451160645

Ruth’s famous “called shot” came as the Yankees and Chicago Cubs faced off in game three of the world series at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on October 1, 1932. In the fifth inning, Ruth made a pointing gesture while at bat and then hit the home run off Cubs pitcher Charlie Root, ultimately leading to the Yankees winning the World Series.

The jersey is now the most expensive sports memorabilia ever sold at auction, according to MLB.com.
Related Stories
Collectibles from Star Wars to Babe Ruth fetch big bucks in post-COVID rebound

August 1, 2024
A prototype of the iconic golden bikini worn by Carrie Fisher in 1983’s “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi” sold for $175,000 at auction. The sale was part of a $5.9 million Hollywood blockbuster for Heritage Auctions as the collectibles and memorabilia market continues its upward trend following a COVID-19 pandemic-inspired boom.

The bikini, sold by Heritage Auctions on Friday, July 26, was not even worn by the actress in Jabba the Hutt’s palace in the movie. Instead, the film’s costume designers made a more comfortable version for Fisher to wear, though she told NPR in 2016 that it still did not hit the comfort mark.

In the same auction, Heritage sold a Y-wing fighter model that was part of the trench run that eventually blew up the Death Star in “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.” The “hero” model is extremely detailed and was used for close-ups while filming the special effects sequences. That model sold for $1.55 million last week.

“It’s another cultural phenomenon,” Heritage Auctions Executive Vice President Joe Maddalena told Straight Arrow News. “Because these movies and TV shows use practical effects, not CGI [computer-generated imagery]. They actually used miniatures. They’re so coveted because look at what we can do with CGI. But why do the movies with practical effects look so much better?”

Maddalena said interest in entertainment-related memorabilia has been growing steadily for decades.

“Collecting movie props in a serious way started in about 1970 and it’s been a pretty steady ride,” he said. “We haven’t had a giant escalation in price. It’s been pretty healthy.”

“You can go anywhere in the world and they know who Harry Potter is,” Maddalena added. “You can go anywhere in the world and you can say ‘Hasta la vista, baby,’ and they know that’s Arnold [Schwarzenegger]. Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, these are ‘American pastime.’ It’s different. It’s not that one’s better than the other.”

While entertainment collectibles may have more of a global appeal, they do not fetch the high dollars that sports memorabilia does. In fact, Heritage will auction off the jersey worn by baseball icon Babe Ruth when he “called his shot” in the 1932 World Series. That jersey is expected to fetch as much as $30 million when the gavel bangs at the end of August.

“Babe Ruth is bigger than baseball,” Maddalena told SAN. “Babe Ruth was a cultural phenomenon.”

The “called shot” happened in the fifth inning of Game 3 against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. It was a ruckus game and baseball historians are split on whether he was pointing to the opposing pitcher, the Cubs’ dugout or the fence.

“Whether this call shot is a myth or it actually was him pointing at the fence [where] he hit a home run, [it] doesn’t matter,” Maddalena said. “It’s the fact that you have probably the most important image in sports, in baseball history, for sure, of Ruth calling that shot. You have that tunic that you can match to that moment in time. It’s priceless.”

The last time the jersey sold was in 2005 for $940,000.

After the COVID-inspired boom in value for collectibles, the “King of Collectibles” Ken Goldin called the massive price increases an “irrational, unsustainable spike.” Since then, record values have fallen for collectible mainstays like trading cards, watches and even rare whiskeys and wines.

“A Charizard, which is the greatest Pokemon card, let’s just say you had a PSA 10 Charizard: perfect card, first edition,” Maddalena, who also handles Heritage’s trading card business, said. “That card, pre-COVID, was $15,000 to $18,000. [At] the height of COVID, it was $400,000, now the card is about $250,000. If you compare $250,000 to pre-COVID, it’s still really, really good.”

Heritage will list Dorothy’s ruby slippers from the “Wizard of Oz” in December, and while Maddalena has had the pleasure of listing items from major films, there are still items out there he would love to get his hands on.

“The only thing I’ve never seen is Maria, the robot from ‘Metropolis,’” he told SAN. “So in the movie, it gets destroyed in the fire. But I’m sure they made more than one. So if that existed, God knows what that would be worth.”

For context, a lot of nine rare and early movie posters, which included one for the 1927 film “Metropolis,” brought in $1.2 million at auction in 2012.

The overall collectibles market is still growing, according to research firm Market Decipher. They said it will cross $600 billion this year, gaining more than 9% over last year. They project the overall collectibles market will eclipse $1 trillion in the next decade.

While there is big money to be made in the world of collectibles, Maddalena said there is more to collecting than profit.

“Search out people who are knowledgeable,” he said. “Learn, and then the fun part about it is no matter what you spend, the joy you get from it, that’s what this is all about. This is your hobby. Hobbies are healthy. They give you personal enjoyment and sometimes they make money.”

“You meet amazing people you would never meet anywhere else,” he added. “You form lifelong friendships with people who are so unlike you because you have something in common. And I think that’s the value of collecting.”
Related Stories
- Michael Jordan championship shoe collection expected to sell for $100M
- ‘Barry’ the dinosaur up for sale despite scientists’ concerns over auctions

Babe Ruth’s 1932 ‘called shot’ jersey sells for record $24.12M

Israel strikes Hezbollah site in Lebanon; both sides claim victory

Collectibles from Star Wars to Babe Ruth fetch big bucks in post-COVID rebound

Certified unbiased reporting

Transparent and credible

Newsletter

Stay connected