Babe Ruth paid $20 US Dollars (USD) to get his 700th home run ball back. On 13 July 1934, the professional baseball player hit home run number 700 when his team, the New York Yankees, was playing against the Tigers in Detroit. The young boy who had retrieved the ball after Ruth hit it out of the park was offered $20 USD, or the 2010s equivalent of $277 USD, and another baseball autographed by Ruth. It is also believed that the $20 USD offer was applied by Ruth for the fans who caught his 500th and 600th home run balls as well.
More about Babe Ruth:
- Although he was considered by many as one of the greatest players of all time, 11 of the voters for inductions into the Baseball Hall of Fame the year after Ruth retired did not include him on the ballot.
- Ruth’s parents voluntarily gave up guardianship of him to a Baltimore school for orphans and incorrigible children at age seven.
- One of Ruth’s 10 1914 rookie cards in circulation was auctioned off in 2013 for $450,300.