A baseball bat used by Brooklyn Dodgers great Jackie Robinson during the 1949 MLB All-Star Game sold for a record $1.08 million dollars at an auction Saturday.
The 1949 All-Star Game was the first event that African American players selected and eligible to participate.
“The bat has been in the Robinson family archives since the day it was first used by Jackie and I guarantee that is 100% authentic," said Jackie's widow Rachel Robinson in a letter she wrote for the auction., the bat sold was a Hillerich & Bradsby brand S100 model. It was one of two bats made for Robinson to use in the 1949 All-Star Game. The auction description says"it displays light game use and is uncracked.
The highest price ever paid for a baseball bat goes to a private East coast collector that paid $1.26 Million in 2004 for a Babe Ruth bat used to hit his first career home run at Yankee Stadium on May 6, 1915 against the Boston Red Sox.