Babe Ruth’s ‘called shot’ jersey could increase in price by 3,000%

Heritage Auctions is offering the jersey Saturday night in Dallas.

Ruth’s famous, debated, and often imitated “shot” came when the Yankees and Chicago Cubs faced off in Game 3 of the World Series at Wrigley Field in Chicago on October 1, 1932. In the fifth inning, Ruth a pointing gesture while at bat and then hit a home run off Cubs pitcher Charlie Root.

The Yankees won the game 7–5 and swept the Cubs the next day to win the series.

That was Ruth’s last World Series, and the “called shot” was his last home run in a World Series, said Mike Provenzale, Heritage’s sports department production manager.

LM Otero—AP Photo

“When you can tie an item like that to an important figure and their most important moment, that’s what collectors are really looking for,” Provenzale said.

Heritage said Ruth gave the road tee to one of his golf buddies in Florida around 1940 and it stayed in that family for decades. Then, in the early 1990s, that man’s daughter sold it to a collector. It was then sold at auction in 2005 for $940,000, and that buyer consigned it to Heritage this year.

In 2019, one of Ruth’s road jerseys, dating from 1928-1930, sold for $5.64 million at an auction held at Yankee Stadium. That shirt was part of a collection of items that Ruth’s family put up for sale.