DAILY DIRT: Babe Ruth’s famous 1932 ‘called shot’ jersey expected to cost winning bidder more than $30 million

I’ve often wondered if those who buy items like this ever actually try them on? … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,039 of The Daily Dirt

1. Sports collectors, brace yourselves.

The dollar record for any sports-related collectible is about to be established. The 1932 game-worn, gray-flannel jersey of Babe Ruth, the one he wore during his legendary “called shot” home run in that season’s World Series, is expected to cost the winning bidder more than $30 million. 

Advertised by Heritage Auctions as the “1932 Babe Ruth Game Worn New York Yankees World Series ‘Called Shot’ Jersey,” bidding recently opened at $7.5 million. Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions for Heritage Auctions, which is brokering the sale, told ESPN that he wouldn’t be surprised if the Ruth jersey exceeds $30 million. 

ESPN reports the anticipated sale price of the jersey, which previously sold at auction in 2005 for $940,000, has skyrocketed amid a game-used memorabilia market boom fueled by an authentication process called photo-matching. Long used for art and collectibles such as vintage guitars, the use of photo-matching for game-used memorabilia — attempting to match idiosyncratic details of bats, jerseys, cleats or other objects according to details seen in historical photos — can significantly increase the market price.

According to ESPN, a Babe Ruth bat that wasn’t photo-matched sold with Heritage for $400,800 in 2018. Last year, Henry Yee, a photo expert with Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), a card grading company and autograph/memorabilia authenticator, matched the bat to photos from 1921, when Ruth set single-season and career home run records. It soon sold for $1.85 mullion, which is still a record for a baseball bat.

Bidding on the jersey closes today.

2. Did you know (Part 102)

• That cows poop an average of 16 times a day.
• That a blue whale weighs more than 30 elephants.
• That alligators cannot move backwards.
• That woodpeckers can peck up to 20 times per second.
• That out of more than 1,200 species of bats, only two of them are able to walk.

3. Here’s some more about the man, the myth, the legend: Chuck Norris.

• Chuck Norris does not breathe. He holds air hostage.
• There is no such thing as evolution, only a list of creatures Chuck Norris allows to exist.
• Chuck Norris doesn’t own an oven. He simply looks at bread and it knows it’s toast.
• Chuck Norris doesn’t eat honey. He chews bees.
• When Chuck Norris tells a joke about Will Smith’s wife, Will Smith slaps himself.
• When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, he found he had two missed calls from Chuck Norris.
• Chuck Norris was recently trying to lose weight, but he couldn’t because Chuck Norris never loses.

Steve Thought O’ The Day – If you’re a sports card collector and were wondering how the aforementioned Babe Ruth jersey stands in comparison to the cost of a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card, here’s the scoop: The most recent sale of a Mantle rookie card (graded 9.5 on 10.0 scale) by the same Heritage Auctions went for $12.6 million in 2022.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. His jersey is worth $4.99