The jersey Babe Ruth wore when he “called the shot” in the 1932 World Series before hitting a home run has sold at an auction for over $24.1m (£18.1m) – making it the most expensive sports memorabilia ever.

The shirt, which sold at Heritage Auctions, tops the previous record held by fellow Yankee Mickey Mantle’s 1952 rookie card, which the Dallas-based auction house sold for $12.6m (£9.5m) in 2022.

A bidding war lasted for over six hours and concluded at 4.30am local time, Heritage Auctions said, adding the buyer wished to remain anonymous.

It was for the shirt Ruth wore during one of the most famous moments in sporting history, which came as his Yankees and the Chicago Cubs faced off in Game 3 of the World Series at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

The sporting great appeared to call his shot before hitting a home run, helping the Yankees on their way to a World Series win.

It might be one of the most iconic moments in history, but it’s one steeped in mystery, even nearly a hundred years later.

There’s never been a consensus over whether Ruth really called the shot. Some say footage shows he is pointing to the pitcher, others at centre field and some towards the club bench.

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“It is the most dramatic moment in World Series history, and it may be the most dramatic moment ever in all of baseball,” said Michael Gibbons, director emeritus and historian at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum in Baltimore.

He added Ruth, who had a history of making predictions, clearly “said something’s going to happen on the next pitch and he made it happen.” And, he said, Ruth himself said he called the shot before his death in 1948.

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The same shirt sold at auction for $940,000 in 2005, but at that time it was only linked to the 1932 World Series, without being traced back directly to the “called shot” fiasco.

“When you can tie an item like that to an important figure and their most important moment, that’s what collectors are really looking for,” said Mike Provenzale, the production manager for Heritage’s sports department.

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