A few weeks ago, an old baseball jersey was brought to Wrigley Field. It came for one day, courtesy of the folks who run Heritage Auctions. The old jersey had once covered the ample frame of Babe Ruth, arguably the greatest baseball player in history and a certifiable cultural phenomenon.
Ruth has been dead since 1948 and the jersey is now back in safe keeping. Very safe keeping , because it is being offered by means of an online auction and is expected to go for a lot of money, a lot of money. The sports memorabilia business is big business.
The previous record for a sports item is the $12.6 million paid in August 2022 for a “near perfect” 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card. Local boosters can puff out their chests when mentioning the $10.
1 million paid for a jersey worn by Michael Jordan in Game 1 of the 1998 “Last Dance” NBA Finals. But “big” does not accurately describe what is transpiring with Babe. As I write this, the current bid for this 1932 Babe Ruth jersey is $14.
1 million. That is not a misprint. That is what has already been bid on Lot #80162, formally described by the folks at Heritage as “1932 Babe Ruth Game Worn New York Yankees World Series ‘Called Shot’ Jersey, SGC Superior — Photo Matched!” Chicagoan Michael Osacky is a certified appraiser with the International Society of Appraisers and as such, is an important player in the world of sports memorabilia.
He tells me that “SGC Superior” signifies the high rating given to the item by SGC,.