(KTLA) — A bat used by baseball icon Jackie Robinson in the 1949 All-Star game sold at auction for a record price of $1.08 million.
The bat was used in the 1949 All-Star game in Brooklyn in which Robinson hit a double and scored three runs. That year’s midsummer classic also marked the first time Black players were selected for an All-Star game.
No. 42 would go on to finish that season being awarded the National League’s Most Valuable Player.
Robinson kept the bat in his personal collection as a keepsake to commemorate the historic accomplishment.
The bat was purchased by Hunt Auctions at a public auction on behalf of an unnamed private client.
David Hunt, President of Hunt Auctions, said he was honored to be involved in the sale of an important piece of American sports history. Hunt said the sale of the Jackie Robinson bat is part of a growing demand and increased value for the barrier-breaking batsman’s memorabilia.
“For years we have witnessed pricing increase for items related to Robinson’s iconic career and see more room for growth as his legacy is becoming, appropriately so, more significant to each generation of fans,” Hunt said in a news release.
In 2020, Hunt Auctions was involved in the sale of a 1950 Jackie Robinson Brooklyn Dodgers home jersey for a record price of $4.2 million. Hunt Auctions said the record price for any piece of baseball memorabilia was a 1928-30 Babe Ruth New York Yankees road jersey which sold in 2019 for $5.6 million.
To see photos of the record-breaking Jackie Robinson bat, click here.
