Babe Ruth Contract Fetches $1.02 Million At Auction In Baltimore
BALTIMORE (AP/WJZ) -- Up for auction. It's been 100 years since the Great Bambino played his first game.
To celebrate the hometown hero, the Sports Legends Museum downtown hosted the largest Babe Ruth memorabilia auction in history.
The auction house says there were two big sales Saturday night. Ruth's first pro contract sold for $1.02 million. A recently discovered bat from the 1916-1918 seasons also fetched $214,000.
George Herman Ruth played his first game on July 11, 1914. He was born in Baltimore.
"That was back in 1914. Jack Dunn signed him to a contract to play on the Baltimore Orioles," said Executive Director of the Babe Ruth Museum and Birthplace Mike Gibbons.
Adam Jones had a chance to swing one of Babe Ruth's bats from the 1927 season when Ruth hit 60 home runs, which you can also see at the museum.
"Babe Ruth was a great athlete, but he became a cultural icon," said Gibbons. "He sits atop the cultural Mount Rushmore of America."
Ruth set 54 Major League Baseball records during his 23-year career. More information about the exhibit can be found here.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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