Babe Ruth's bat used to hit 500th home run auctioned for more than $1M
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The bat used by Babe Ruth to hit his 500th home run has been auctioned for more than $1 million.
SCP Auctions in Laguna Niguel, Calif., sold the autographed bat for $1,000,800 on Dec. 14. The Bambino hit his historic 500th homer on Aug. 11, 1929, in a game against the Cleveland Indians.
RARE BABE RUTH ROOKIE CARD SELLS FOR $110G AT AUCTION
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This Nov. 11, 2019 photo released by SCP Auctions, Inc., shows the bat used by Babe Ruth to slug his 500th career home run in 1929. (SCP Auctions, Inc. via AP)
According to SCP Auctions, the ball cleared the right-field wall at League Park and rolled down Lexington Avenue.
Ruth was the first of just 27 Major League Baseball players to reach that mark.
BABE RUTH ROOKIE CARD AUCTIONED FOR $130G DECADES AFTER IT WAS FOUND INSIDE A $25 PIANO
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}American baseball player George Herman Ruth (1895 - 1948) known as 'Babe' Ruth. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)
The Sultan of Swat gave the bat to his friend, former Suffern, New York, Mayor Jim Rice, in the 1940s. It's been in the family for nearly 75 years.
The auction house didn’t identify the buyer.
LONG-LOST BABE RUTH WWII-ERA RADIO INTERVIEW FOUND IN OBSCURE ARCHIVE
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NEW YORK - 1931. Babe Ruth hits one out during batting practice at Yankee Stadium before a game in 1931. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics, Getty Images)
Babe Ruth memorabilia is big business. Another Ruth bat used to hit the first home run out of Yankee Stadium in 1923 sold for nearly $1.3 million in 2004.
In November, a Babe Ruth rookie card was auctioned for more than $110,000. Earlier this year, a 1916 Babe Ruth baseball card was auctioned for more than $130,000.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In 2018, a long-lost Babe Ruth World War II-era Babe Ruth radio interview surfaced after its discovery in the archives of Cheshire Academy, a private school in Connecticut.
Fox News’ Chris Ciaccia and the Associated Press contributed to this article.
Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers