Babe Ruth's famous 1932 “Called Shot” jersey expected to fetch more than $30 million to highest bidder – Muddy River News

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

1. Sports collectors, get ready.

The dollar record for a sports-related collectible is about to be set. Babe Ruth's 1932 gray flannel jersey, which he wore during his legendary home run in the World Series, is expected to fetch more than $30 million to the highest bidder.

Heritage Auctions has advertised the jersey as a “1932 Babe Ruth Game Worn New York Yankees World Series 'Called Shot' Jersey,” and the auction recently started at $7.5 million. Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage Auctions, which is brokering the sale, told ESPN he wouldn't be surprised if the Ruth jersey fetched over $30 million.

ESPN reports that the expected sale price of the jersey, which sold for $940,000 in 2005, has skyrocketed amid a boom in the game memorabilia market. The boom is being fueled by an authentication process called photo-matching. Photo-matching has long been used for art and collectibles such as vintage guitars. For game memorabilia, the team tries to match distinctive details of bats, jerseys, cleats or other objects with details in historical photographs. This can significantly increase the market price.

According to ESPN, a Babe Ruth bat that was not photographically matched sold for $400,800 at Heritage in 2018. Last year, Henry Yee, a photo expert at Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), a card grading and authenticity verification company for autographs and memorabilia, compared the bat to photos from 1921, when Ruth set records for most home runs in a season and in his career. It soon sold for $1.85 million, which is still a record for a baseball bat.

Bidding on the jersey ends 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 can't move backwards.
• That woodpeckers can peck up to 20 times per second.
• That of the over 1,200 species of bats, only two can walk.

3. Here you can learn more about the man, the myth, the legend: Chuck Norris.

• Chuck Norris doesn't breathe. He holds the air hostage.
• There is no such thing as evolution, just a list of creatures that Chuck Norris allows to exist.
• Chuck Norris doesn't have an oven. He just looks at the bread and the bread 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 realized he had missed two calls from Chuck Norris.
• Chuck Norris recently tried to lose weight, but he failed because Chuck Norris never loses weight.

Steve's thought of the day -If you collect sports cards and are wondering how the Babe Ruth jersey mentioned above compares to the price of a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card, here's the lowdown: The most recent sale of a Mantle rookie card (graded 9.5 on a 10-point scale) by the same Heritage Auctions fetched $12.6 million in 2022.

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