It is one of the most iconic moments in baseball history and yesterday, someone now owns the jersey Babe Ruth was wearing during the at-bat.

Late last night, an auction through the Heritage Auctions website concluded with Babe Ruth’s game-worn jersey from the famed ‘Called Shot’ moment was up for grabs. The final ending price was $24,120,000 (USD) with a 20% buyer premium added in – making the total come out to a whopping $28,944,000 (USD).

In the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, Ruth and the Yankees were in Chicago facing the Cubs at Wrigley Field and were looking to take a stranglehold on the series after winning the first two games at their home field. The contest featured over 13 current Hall of Famers, including Lou Gehrig, Lefty Gomez, Joe Sewell, and Billy Herman.

The Yankees got on the board early thanks to a Ruth home run in the first inning, giving the Bronx Bombers a quick 3-0 lead. By the end of the fourth, Chicago had clawed their way back and were now tied with New York by a score of 4-4. In the top of the fifth inning, Ruth stepped up to the plate and after taking a strike from starter Charlie Root, made a pointing gesture from the batter’s box – making it appear that the slugger was pointing to where he was going to hit the ball off of Root. Ruth would continue to battle the Cubs pitcher, pointing after each pitch, until Root pitched him a hanging curveball in a 2-2 count that Ruth quickly deposited into the centre field seats – drawing the ire of both the Chicago fans and their players who had been hurling insults and fruit all game.

Initially, Ruth claimed that he was pointing towards the Cubs dugout in regards to the strike calls, riling up the group that was heckling the Yankees batter, but he later changed his story over the years to follow the ‘called shot’ narrative. Eyewitness accounts have debated on Ruth’s pointing and whether it was towards the dugout, stands, the pitcher (Root), or centre field, adding only to the mystery of the iconic moment that Root himself initially stated didn’t even happen. It wasn’t until the 1980s and late 1990s that footage from the game showed Ruth gesturing with his right hand in the batter’s box but not exactly showing which direction – keeping the debate intact all these years later.

With the iconic moment over 90+ years old, the Ruth jersey itself is a part of baseball history and someone now has the jersey for their display. The sale price becomes the most expensive sports collectable sold at auction, besting a $12.6 million mark set by a Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps card.