ARLINGTON, Texas — The Major League Baseball All-Star Game will feature the game's best players -- and some of the most historic artifacts in the game's history.
Including one *very* valuable piece of clothing.
The gray New York Yankees jersey said to be worn by Babe Ruth during his famed "called shot" home run will be on display just outside Globe Life Field, which is hosting the All-Star Game Tuesday.
The jersey, which Dallas-based Heritage Auctions says was worn by Ruth during Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, will be part of a display of sports memorabilia inside the Texas Live! Revolver Brewhouse, giving fans a chance to stop by and get an up-close look at history.
The Ruth jersey will be part of Heritage's August 23-25 Summer Platinum Sports Auction. And it's expected to fetch as much as $30 million.
That's no typo.
Only a few pieces of baseball memorabilia could be more coveted than the jersey worn by the game's most famous player in his most famous moment.
A key reason why the price is expected to skyrocket at auction is because the jersey was authenticated by a third-party photo-matching service, according to Heritage. The authenticator was able to match the jersey being auctioned to pictures of the jersey Ruth was wearing during Game 3 of the 1932 World Series.
"For veteran collectors of baseball jerseys, they know that vintage uniforms are very different from the modern productions we see today," Heritage's executive vice president of sports, Joe Orlando, explained. "Back during this time, these jerseys were handmade so every jersey is a little bit different. The alignment of the buttons in relation to the lettering on the chest are different from jersey to jersey, sometimes even within the same season."
Because of this, authenticators were able to match the button and lettering positioning from the Ruth jersey to photos from the jersey he was wearing on the day of Game 3, Orlando said.
The Ruth jersey isn't the only prized item on display by Heritage. Other items on display at Texas Live! include: 1911 "Shoeless Joe" Jackson game-used rookie bat; 1951 Jackie Robinson game-work Brooklyn Dodgers jersey; Shohei Ohtani's 176th career home run baseball, which set the record for a Japanese-born player; and a 1921 game-used and signed Ruth bat.
While the Heritage items will be on display ahead of their August auction, Hunt Auction is hosting a live auction on Tuesday at the Arlington E-Sports stadium, which is part of the MLB All-Star Game Village.
Among the items in the Hunt Auction is a gold pendant that was given to Lou Gehrig at the first All-Star Game in 1933. The Gehrig pendant is expected to sale for $50,000-$100,000, according to Hunt.
Other items include: President John F. Kennedy and President Dwight D. Eisenhower autographed ceremonial first pitch baseballs; Jimmie Foxx signed baseball; Gehrig signed photograph from his 2,000th-hit game; and a 2000 World Series final out baseball.
