Posted on 06/16/2019 8:29:12 AM PDT by Hojczyk
Babe Ruth’s New York Yankees Opens a New Window. jersey from 1928-1930 sold at auction on Saturday for $5.64 million, setting the record for the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia ever sold.
The gray road uniform was one of more than 400 items that Ruth’s family and other collectors supplied for the auction at Yankee Stadium. Ruth’s granddaughter, Linda Ruth Tosetti, said in a statement that a portion of the proceeds will go to charity.
Hunt told FOX Business’ Dagen McDowell last week that the road jersey was rare because it was the only time in franchise history when “Yankees” appeared on the front of the uniform. He predicted the jersey would be sold for more than $4.4 million.
“There's only about six of these known of any quality. This is from that late [1920s], that 'Murderers' Row'-era,” Hunt said.
“Murderers' Row,” the nickname of the heart of the Yankees lineup in 1927, included Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel and Tony Lazzeri. It is widely considered as one of the best teams in history.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxbusiness.com ...
That price is impressive - there are a few generations who would not recognize Babe Ruth’s name anymore, and baseball continues to plummet in popularity (along with pro football). The next time that jersey goes on auction, I’d guess it will sell for less.
Babe Ruth...I remember him well.
We went to different schools together
Humans are just weird, what we value.
IIRC, numbers on the backs of jerseys were not introduced until the late 1920s, early 1930s and the first ones reflected the batter’s place in the batting order. Ruth was #3 because he was the third hitter in the lineup and Gehrig was #4 for the same reason.
Names on the backs were introduced gradually for television sake. IIRC, the Yankees have never worn their names on the back so if somebody sells you an “authentic” Yankee jersey with the name on the back, it’s not genuine.
I have an authentic Roman coin dated 75 BC.
[[Babe Ruth jersey sells for record $5.64M at auction]]
Babe Ruth Bader Ginsburg jersey meanwhile sells for $10.49 plus shipping and handling
I was disappointed my 5.5 million dollar bid got overrode.
I recall reading about how the practice of putting numbers on hockey sweaters began about in the 1910s, IIRC. The tradition of the goaltender wearing the number 1 sweater was started by the immortal Georges Vezina, the Montreal Canadiens’ goaltending legend who died in 1924 from TB and for whom the Vezina Trophy (NHL’s outstanding goaltender) is named for.
I recall reading in Graig Nettles’ book “BALLS” about how after his second season as a New York Yankee in 1974, the stadium was closed for a season for modern renovations. What would you give to be able to go back to a time like that just before the renovations were to take place just so that you could go through the storage rooms and lockers that probably many of which had not been really looked through or even touched for many years by that time? Bet there’d have been all sorts of treasures ranging from uniforms and jerseys to other equipment and even contractual documents that belonged to Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, and all sorts of other Yankee legends over those years.
It was actually closed for two seasons, it was weird seeing the Yankees play at Shea. Bobby Bonds played for the Yankees one of those years, you can usually trip someone up if you ask them why Barry Bonds’ dad couldn’t hit any home runs at Yankee Stadium, during his season in pinstripes ;)
It’d be funny if someone found a label on the jersey that said “Made in People’s Republic of China”.
I knew someone would do it. :)
:-)
Then George drags the World Series Trophy around the parking lot. Just Gold Jerry. Gold!
George “Can’t StandsYa!”
Thanks,
I needed That!
Lou Gehrig's pants. Not a bad fit. Hey, you don't think that nerve disease of his was contagious, do you? Uh, I better take 'em off. I'm too important to this team. (removes the pants to reveal his boxers)
Wise guy.
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