NEW YORK (AFP) — A jersey belonging to US baseball legend Babe Ruth shattered the record for the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia ever auctioned, fetching $24.1 million.

The online auction for the New York Yankee’s jersey lasted several weeks, and it was expected to best the previous record: $12.6 million paid in August 2022 for a baseball card for Mickey Mantle.

Until 2022, no piece of sports memorabilia had ever broken the symbolic $10-million mark, but that year saw both the Mantle card and a jersey worn by basketball great Michael Jordan blow past the threshold.

The online auction for the New York Yankee’s jersey lasted several weeks, and it was expected to best the previous record: $12.6 million paid in August 2022 for a baseball card for Mickey Mantle.

The Bambino — one of Ruth’s monikers — wore the record-breaking jersey during a historic game against the Chicago Cubs in the 1932 World Series.

Ruth was being heckled by the opposition, and he reportedly responded by pointing deep into the center-field stands, before pounding the next pitch exactly in that direction for a home run.

The Yankees went on to win the game and the World Series, the final championship win of Ruth’s career.

Years after his retirement, Ruth donated the jersey to a golf partner. It was subsequently sold three times, most recently in 2005 for $940,000.