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In short
A jersey worn by baseball legend Babe Ruth could more than double the record price for sports memorabilia when it is auctioned later this month.
New York Yankees player Ruth hit two home runs in game 3 of the 1932 World Series, in the "called shot" game.
What's next?
The auction of his shirt from that game will be finalised between August 23 and August 25.
A New York Yankees jersey worn by US baseball legend Babe Ruth could fetch upwards of $US30 million ($45.5 million) when it hits the auction block later in August, according to Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage Auctions.
Ruth wore the jersey during game 3 of the 1932 World Series, the game remembered for the "called shot".
It was last auctioned 19 years ago for just under $US1 million. Since that time it has been photo-matched to the exact game where Ruth hit two home runs, including one where — after taking two strikes — he pointed with his bat before hitting the next ball for a home run over the centre-field fence.
"In 1932, when Babe Ruth was facing [Chicago Cubs pitcher] Charlie Root in game 3," said Ivy, "We know that he pointed, but we don't know if he was pointing to the pitcher, if he was pointing towards the Cubs players in the dugout, or if he was calling his shot.
"But that mystery is why we're still talking about it almost 100 years later. And what we do know is this is the shirt, the jersey that Babe Ruth was wearing on that day.
"If this was a piece of art, this would be like buying the Mona Lisa, which, you know, is impossible to buy currently, but luckily for sports collectors, this is available.
"Our estimate for it at auction is $US30 million plus. It's currently sitting at right around $US17 million [$25.8 million]. So, we've got about 12 days left to go in the auction, and we're expecting to see some fireworks towards the end."
Ruth is widely considered to be the greatest baseballer in the sport's history, and he was one of the five inaugural inductees in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.
He hit 714 career home runs, which was a record for decades until it was passed by Hank Aaron in 1974.
Up to now, the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia ever sold is another baseball artefact, a mint condition baseball card of Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle, which sold in August 2022 for $US12.6 million ($19.1 million).
A Chicago Bulls jersey worn by NBA legend Michael Jordan in game 1 of the NBA Finals in 1998 against the Utah Jazz was sold by Sotheby's in September 2022 for $US10.1 million ($15.3 million).
The "Hand of God" jersey that Argentinian football legend Maradona wore in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal against England, where he used his hand to deflect the ball into the net without the referee's knowledge, was sold by the same auction house in 2022 for 7.1 million pounds ($13.8 million).
And the original Olympic manifesto by International Olympic Committee co-founder Pierre de Coubertin, written in 1892 setting out his rationale for bringing back the Games in the modern era, sold in 2019 for the equivalent of $12.8 million.
Ernestine Miller and Kevin Baker, both authors of books on baseball and Babe Ruth, stopped by the auction house to take a look at the shirt.
"It's a big deal for many reasons," said Miller. "First of all, there is no one in the history of sport that has the legacy of Babe Ruth.
"And what he did for baseball is being discussed and compared every day in our country, in the United States, and around the world."
"One of the most amazing games in American baseball history, in American sports, an athlete actually promising to do something and doing it," said Baker.
The auction finale is set for August 23 to 25.
Reuters/ABC
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