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Babe Ruth game-used bat sets record with $1.85 million sale at Hunt Auctions
A professional model bat used by Babe Ruth during the 1920-21 seasons has sold for a record $1.85 million in a private sale by Hunt Auctions.
The sale is a record for any baseball bat sold at auction or in a private sale, surpassing the previous sale of a Ruth bat for $1.68 million.
The Ruth bat, which was used during his record-setting 1921 season, is widely regarded as one of the finest surviving bats used by Ruth. According to the bat’s provenance, it was once displayed at the Polo Grounds in New York alongside other game-used bats used by Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby in the early 1940s. The bats were auctioned for charity at the end of the 1940 season.
The Ruth bat was also photo-matched by PSA/DNA lead photographic expert Henry Yee to a 1921 photograph picturing Ruth swinging the bat during a game. It is the only known example of photographic evidence of Ruth using a bat in such a medium.
The 1921 season was one of the greatest of Ruth’s historic career. In his second season with the Yankees, he led the league with a .378 average with a record 59 home runs, 168 RBI, 177 runs scored and 145 walks. All those numbers led the league, along with his .512 on-base percentage and .846 slugging percentage. Ruth also broke the league record for career home runs that season with 139 as the Yankees won their first American League pennant before losing to the rival New York Giants in the World Series at the Polo Grounds.
According to the PSA/DNA authentication, the classic Babe Ruth R2 model measured 36 inches in length and weighed 44.6 ounces, specifications confirmed by the Hillerich & Bradbsy Co. ordering records for Ruth’s bats between 1920 and 1921. It has a perfect grade of GU 10 by PSA/DNA.
“It is without surprise that the Babe has once again pushed yet another sports memorabilia category to record pricing territory,” Hunt Auctions President David Hunt said. “This baseball bat is as close to work of art as the medium can allow. When holding the 44.6-ounce weapon that Babe once used to pummel baseballs into the bleachers at New York’s Polo Grounds it becomes immediately obvious as to the importance of this amazing baseball artifact.
“Equally impressive to the record price established is the enduring legacy that Ruth left for seemingly endless generations of fans who continue to revere his legend both on and off of the baseball field.”
Bat authentication expert John Taube of PSA Pro Bat Services is very familiar with the bat, having brought it into the hobby 30 years ago.
“I remember vividly the excitement that surrounded the day it was being hand-delivered to my home by the original owner,” Taube said through Hunt Auctions. “When I first picked the bat up like all collectors, I was amazed at the 44-plus-ounce weight of the bat, wondering how Ruth could swing it. The rich brown patina and the Ruth characteristics that were present, then and now, establish the bat as one of the premier Babe Ruth game-used bats in any collection, public or private.”
The record for baseball memorabilia remains a Babe Ruth New York Yankees professional model road jersey circa 1928-30, which sold for $5.64 million by Hunt Auctions in 2019.
Hunt Auctions is currently accepting consignments for its 19th annual MLB PlayBall Park All-Star Game live auction in July in Seattle.
