World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka wins US Open women’s final, beating American Jessica Pegula

(NEW YORK) — More than seven-and-a-half decades after his death, Babe Ruth made history again when a jersey he was wearing during his famous “called shot” home run plate appearance was auctioned off over the weekend for $24.1 million, the highest price ever paid for a piece of sports memorabilia.

The winning bid for the Great Bambino’s No. 3 New York Yankees road jersey came in at nearly double the price paid for what is now the second most expensive sports collectible — a mint condition Topps 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card auctioned in 2022 for $12.6 million, according to Heritage Auctions, which handled the Ruth jersey sale.

“This is essentially the Mona Lisa, it’s a very mythical moment that crosses over not only in baseball history but American history, pop culture history,” Chris Ivy, Heritage Auctions’ director of sports auctions, told ESPN. “We’re still talking about it 100 years later, which is one of the reasons why I think it’s the most significant piece of sports memorabilia in the world.”

The name of the person who won the bidding war for Ruth’s flannel jersey was not disclosed. The price includes a 20% buyer’s premium, Heritage Auction said.

On Oct. 1, 1932, during Game 3 of the World Series at Wrigley Field, Ruth gestured to the centerfield wall before crushing a Carlie Root pitch into the bleachers for a three-run homer, the most famous of the 729 homers he hit during his career. The Yankees won the game 7-5 and went on to win the World Series, sweeping the Cubs the next day.

It was the last World Series Ruth played in.

“To me, it was the funniest, proudest moment I had ever had in baseball,” Ruth acknowledged after the game. “I jogged down toward first base, rounded it, looked back at the Cub bench and suddenly got convulsed with laughter. You should have seen those Cubs. There they were — all out on the top step and yelling their brains out — and then [I] connected and they watched it and then fell back as if they were being machine-gunned.”

The last time the Ruth “called shot” jersey was put on the auction block was in 2005, when it sold for $940,000, but that was before it was authenticated as the jersey the Sulton of Swat was wearing when he hit the epic home run, according to Heritage Auction.

“The most ironclad assurance of authenticity is delivered in photographic format, with industry-leading photo matching authenticators MeiGray supplying three photographs of Ruth in the October 1, 1932, World Series Game Three at Wrigley Field wearing this jersey,” Heritage Auction said in its auction catalog.

The auction house said the letter “Y” in “New York” on the jersey “demonstrated to be in perfect alignment with the buttons and curve of the front placket.”

“Other unique attributes utilized in the matching include a small notch on the left side of the ‘N’ in ‘NEW,’ a bend in the bottom of the ‘E’ and a slight tilt in the middle peak of the ‘W,'” the auction house said.

The authentication sent the jersey’s value skyrocketing. Before the auction, Ivy said the bidding was poised to go as high as $30 million.

Ivy told ESPN that a dozen people on the company’s mailing list were expected to bid $15 million to $20 million for the jersey. He said the auction house’s client list runs the gamut from attorneys up to sports team owners.

“This stuff is a great conversation starter as opposed to, you know, buying more IBM stock, investing in real estate,” Ivy said. “A lot of people feel like they were kinda maxed out on those things.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Soccer stars Alex Morgan and Brianna Pinto are speaking out after The National Women’s Soccer League and the NWSL Players Association agreed to a historic new contract Thursday.

Both Morgan and Pinto were both on the NWSLPA’s bargaining committee.

“It was an honor to be in the room for the bargaining. I was one of five current NWSL players that were present and it helped the league put names to faces and see our true humanity,” Pinto told “Good Morning America.” “I think that made it ever present about the demands that we were putting on the league.”

The contract will extend the players’ current one to 2030. Among its pioneering conditions, it will eliminate a draft, offer players free agency, and let players consent to trades.

“This is such a groundbreaking contract for us. It’s really never happened in any American sports league,” Morgan said.

“Not having a draft, although exciting in the moment, to be able to choose where you want to live, where you want to play, with all considerations of reproductive rights, tax laws, culture and facilities and everything within a team in a state that’s provided, it’s so important for the player to have that power back and to be able to choose,” the San Diego Wave forward continued.

That prospect of choice, including free agency, is one that Pinto said players have supported for a long time.

“I think this is such a massive accomplishment for our players because it allows the clubs to make the decision to provide a professional environment that appeals to players all across the world,” Pinto, a midfielder for the North Carolina Courage, said. “We’re really excited about the newfound agency over getting to choose where you play, because this is something that players have been looking forward to for years.”

Once the new agreements go into effect, all contracts will be guaranteed, a condition that mirrors those of other professional sports leagues and one which Pinto said was vital.

“That is important to us because it protects you from situations that are outside of your control, whether that be a health condition, an injury or a dip in on-field playing performance, you will be guaranteed that you have your contract through the end of your term,” Pinto said.

Another key aspect of the new contract is the expansion of parental leave and family building benefits.

“I’m really proud of this part of our contract,” Morgan, who is also a mom of one, said. “We’re able to now travel with our children and bring [a] child care provider, but also look at future planning as well for our families, and that’s providing players with access to fertility clinics and a lot of other resources that weren’t available to us before.”

“These are sort of things that you don’t see in men’s leagues,” Morgan added. “And so, we had to think outside of the box and look at protecting and supporting moms as much as possible because I didn’t want to choose – back in 2019, I was at the height of my career and I didn’t want to choose to keep playing soccer or be a mom. I wanted to be able to do both – and so, to be a part of this and actually have a say in this contract that is so groundbreaking, I’m really proud of.”

Morgan said the new contract will empower the league’s rising and star players and could serve as an example for other professional sports leagues.

“I think that what we’re doing is making changes that puts a little bit of the power back in the players. And I can definitely see some other leagues looking towards NWSL and seeing how we attained benefits within our contract and how they could do that,” she said.

“There’s leagues that have been around for 50 or 100 years that haven’t been able to attain the things that we have in our contract and we’re only in our 12th year of the NWSL, so it’s pretty incredible what we’ve been able to achieve and and I hope this does kick start a little bit more of putting a little more freedom and choice back at the players’ hands.”

In a statement, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman applauded the significant contract agreement.

“Given our vision to be the best league in the world, we determined that this was the right time to align with global standards and achieve long term labor peace. This CBA gives us agency over our business and gives the players agency over their careers,” Berman said. “Our new agreement revolutionizes the game, raises standards, and innovates the business. On behalf of our Board of Governors, I want to thank our players and their representative leadership at the NWSLPA for working together to make this possible.”

Pinto emphasized that the league and players’ agreement is a collective victory.

“Overall, we learned that when the players win, we all win, so we’re super excited about this accomplishment,” Pinto said.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE
New York Mets 7, Boston Red Sox 2
Philadelphia Phillies 10, Toronto Blue Jays 9
Los Angeles Dodgers 6, Los Angeles Angels 2

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tampa Bay Rays 2, Minnesota Twins 1
Baltimore Orioles 9, Chicago White Sox 0
Cleveland Guardians 7, Kansas City Royals 1
Texas Rangers 7, New York Yankees 4
Seattle Mariners 2, Oakland A’s 3

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Washington Nationals 6, Miami Marlins 2
Atlanta Braves 3, Colorado Rockies 0
Pittsburgh Pirates 5, Chicago Cubs 0
St. Louis Cardinals 7, Milwaukee Brewers 4
Arizona Diamondbacks 8, San Francisco Giants 7

WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Seattle Storm 71, Connecticut Sun 64
Washington Mystics 90, Dallas Wings 86
Atlanta Dream 66, Phoenix Mercury 74
Chicago Sky 71, Las Vegas Aces 90

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.