NEW YORK - Going, going, gone. The massive 46-ounce Louisville Slugger used by Babe Ruth to drill the first home run in Yankee Stadium history was sold for a record $1.26 million Thursday to an unidentified private collector.
The bat, 36 inches of solid ash billed as "The Holy Grail of sports memorabilia," sold after about one minute of high-stakes bidding at Sotheby's auction house, fetching a Ruthian price above its presale estimate of $1 million, said Sotheby's spokeswoman Lauren Gioia.
The bat was only the third piece of sports memorabilia to break the $1 million mark at auction, joining Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball ($3 million) and a 1909 Honus Wagner baseball card ($1.265 million), the auction house said. It was the most ever paid for a baseball bat.
