A Babe Ruth owned home run bat is to cross the block in Heritage Auctions' February 21-22 sports collectibles auction in New York with an opening bid of $160,000.

The bat, which Ruth used to hit the 59th and final home run of his legendary 1921 season, is described by Heritage as a "massive forty-seven ounce war club". 

According to Heritage the bat is a 'massive forty-seven ounce war club'

The house comments: "It's unquestionably the most significant Ruth home run bat to cross the hobby's auction block since the one that launched the first home run at Yankee Stadium in 1923 commanded $1.3 million over a decade ago, the heaviest known, and the only example in private hands accompanied by the Babe's own signed letter of provenance."

His old teammate, Frank "Home Run" Baker (Ruth had smashed Baker's career home run record 25 games in), commented halfway through the season: "I wish him all the luck in the world. He has everybody else, including myself, hopelessly outclassed."

Ruth changed baseball overnight, bringing crowds flocking back to the stadiums with the relentless force of his skill and personality. 

The lot is accompanied by a letter that reads: "To my Friend 'Fred P. Weber, Phoenix, Arizona.
"It gives me great pleasure to present you with this-my trustworthy bat with which I batted out my 57th and 58th [corrected to 59th] home-runs at the Polo Grounds-New York City on September 26, 1921 and broke my own world's home run record. Yours in Baseball, [signed] 'Babe' Ruth."

The sale will also include the gloves worn by both Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston in the 1965 "phantom punch" bout.

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