Rockland family sells Babe Ruth’s 500th home run bat for over $1M at auction

The bat used by baseball legend Babe Ruth to hit his 500th home run has been living in a Hudson Valley closet for years.
The Yankees slugger had given the historic bat to a friend in Rockland County, but it now has a new home after a seven-figure auction.
Babe Ruth made baseball history on Aug. 11, 1929 when the New York Yankees slugger became the first player to hit 500 home runs.
In the 1940s, the Great Bambino gave the bat he used to reach that career milestone to his good friend and golfing buddy, former Suffern Mayor Jim Rice.
After he passed away, Rice's children became owners of the coveted collectible and put it up for auction.
Ruth's Louisville Slugger, still in pristine condition, sold for just over $1 million over the weekend. The buyer’s name was not announced.

Sports fan Dana Walters hopes the bat eventually ends up in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
"Hopefully, whoever purchased it, if they want it for their private collection to put over their mantle so to speak, perhaps they will bequeath it to the proper institution when the time comes," says Walters.

This isn’t the first time a Babe Ruth bat has raked in the big bucks. In 2004, the bat the Great Bambino used in the 1923 Yankees home opener reportedly sold at auction for $1.2 million.