BOHEMIA, N.Y. – The date was Oct. 1, 1932. It was Game 3 of the World Series, with the Yankees playing the Cubs within the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. However, things weren’t so friendly. The score was tied at 4-4 in the fifth inning. The fans turned ugly when the Yankee’s Babe Ruth stepped up to the plate.

Ruth was angry, he later told a writer, with fans who had spit on Claire (his wife). Some of them “started throwing vegetables and fruit at me,” he later claimed.

The Chicago Cubs’ “bench jockeys” were also riding Ruth mercilessly.

As legend has it, with two-called strikes against him, Ruth made a pointing gesture to the centerfield bleachers of Wrigley. Cubs pitcher Charlie Root pitched a curveball right into Ruth’s powerhouse. The ball was hit at least 440 feet to the deepest part of center field. Some said the ball travelled at least 490 feet.

“Ruth Calls Shot as he puts Home Run No. 2 in Side Pocket,” declared the New York World-Telegram announced in a large headline. A legend had begun.

Whatever the footage, Ruth describes it as: “I swung from the ground with everything I had and as I hit the ball every muscle in my system, every sense I had, told me, that I had never hit a better one, that as long as I lived nothing would ever feel as good as this.”

Since that day, disputes have arisen whether Ruth actually meant his pointing gesture to be a “called shot.” Ruth, never one to let facts sway the nature of his legendary feats, demurred at first about his gesture. However, the media-savvy Ruth soon went along with the story, with subsequent versions growing more dramatic over the years.

Whether he made and acted on the gesture, in no way detracts from the achievement. He hit the baseball, aided by a good wind, out of the park. He was in his prime. He felt good. The bat felt good in his hands.

Today that bat is one of the most historic bats in professional baseball history, according to Joshua L. Evans, chairman and founder of Leland’s Auction.

“This bat has literally been traced to the hands of Babe Ruth,” Evans said. “That bat was given a 10 out of 10 rating (PSA/DNA). We can’t say it was definitively the bat (used in the 1932 “Called Shot”), but there is very strong evidence that suggests it is the very same bat.”

The bat was given by Ruth to an old teammate, Wally Berger, from the Boston Braves, most likely in 1935, when Ruth was playing for the Braves, Evans said. Ruth had started with Boston in 1914, before he was traded to the Yankees after his 1919 season. Berger kept the bat for years. A four-time All-Star for Boston (1933-36), Berger died in 1988.

The bat emerged on the market in the mid to late 1980s, according to Evans. He said it had been through a “few hands” before it is to be sold by Leland’s Classic Auction, now online with a March 23 closing date.

The bat is expected to sell for more than $500,000, Evans said. Initial bidding on the bat easily moved beyond a starting bid of $100,000.

Another bat that is getting appreciable attention is the 1957 Mickey Mantle game-used All-Star game bat. It easily passed its opening bid of $25,000 and, at press time, was up to $47,717 with several days left in the auction.

Other Major League Baseball memorabilia being sold includes a 1964 Pete Rose, signed and game-worn Cincinnati Reds jersey; a 1939 Hall of Fame opening weekend program signed by 10 of the original inductees; and a 1968 Reggie Jackson Oakland A’s game-worn jersey.

Football fans – particularly those many Pittsburgh Steeler fans – are not left in the cold at this online auction. An exceptional collection of Steelers game-worn jerseys and equipment, sourced in a partnership with the Steelers and directly from the team’s archives, will be sold. These include the Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame and legends Jack Lambert, Lynn Swann, Jack Ham, Ernie Holmes, and Jerome Bettis, among others.

Portions of the proceeds of jerseys will be donated to the Chuck Noll Foundation for Brain Injury Research, which supports continued research and education regarding brain injuries and treatment of sports-related concussions.

Lelands’ Classic Auction will also feature one-of-a-kind horseracing memorabilia, including Majestic Prince’s 1969 Preakness Stakes trophy. “This is one of my favorite lots,” Evans says, “you don’t get many ownership trophies.” Engraved inscriptions of the side read, “Won by Majestic Prince, Owner Frank McMahon” The trophy comes with a signed and notarized letter by the prominent oilman of the mid-20th century, and a photo of McMahon with the trophy.

Baseball cards are selling like hotcakes at Lelands: The all-time highest graded 1976 Topps baseball complete set (with a weighted 9.83 GPA, 10.695 GPA with bonuses) had as many as 15 bids, after clearing a $10,000 opening, standing at more than $50,000 with 18 days still left for bidding.

Several other baseball card sets, easily broke into five-figure bids early in the auction.

Contact: (631) 244-0077

Lelands.com