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The only thing more exciting than a Babe Ruth game used homerun bat is a Babe Ruth game used bat that comes with a provenance explaining exactly how the bat went from Ruth’s hands to the auction block almost 100 years later! And if there’s anything more exciting than that, it’s provenance from the Bambino himself!

The bat Ruth used to hit his (then record) 59th homerun of the season on September 26, 1921,  was auctioned by Heritage this weekend and sold for $717,000 – a big number appropriately befitting such a unique item of baseball history. The bat comes with a letter written from a New York hotel, by Ruth himself,  just two weeks later on October 13, 1921.

But at Just Collect, we don’t just report on auction prices – we’re experts in the sports card and memorabilia industry…so I need to go a little bit deeper.

What Would Ruth’s 60th Home Run Bat From The Historic 1927 Season Sell For at Auction?

The Ruth 1921 59th homerun bat which sold this weekend was so remarkable because: a) it was Babe Ruth, b) of its airtight provenance, and c) because it was used to hit a historic homerun.

A number of other bats used by Ruth during his career would have even more historical significance - the bat he used to hit his 60th homerun in 1927, the bat he used to hit his “called shot”, or any of his 500th, 600th or 700th homeruns are just a few examples.

Let’s imagine that the very bat that Ruth used to hit his 60th in 1927 came to auction with similar provenance. Maybe this time Ruth is staying a few blocks further downtown and the bat is accompanied by a letter written at the Waldorf Astoria. The first thing I do when predicting the price of a piece of memorabilia is of course look for sales of comparable items – but there isn’t much that can be considered truly comparable to a bat like this one. We know the Ruth 1921 bat sold for $717,000 this weekend. His jersey from 1920, his first year with the Yankees, sold at auction for more than four million dollars a few years ago. The bat he used to hit his first homerun as a Yankee sold for $1.3M. And other notable Ruth jerseys – the jersey he wore when he hit his “called shot,” the jersey from his 1934 barnstorming tour, and his jersey from the 1933 All-Star game – have sold in recent years for between $650,000 and $950,000.

The Value of Provenance In Sports Memorabilia

Collecting is about storytelling. It’s a way for us to get involved with the story of our most revered athletes and athletic events. A letter giving us insight into how we, collectors, became involved with this particular story, is priceless.