All-Star Game bat of Jackie Robinson sold for $1.08 M

A bat used by Jackie Robinson in the 1949 All-Star Game sold for $1.08 million at auction on Saturday, according to Goldin Auctions of New Jersey.

Robinson, who broke Major League Baseball’s (MLB) color barrier in 1947, won the National League Most Valuable Player Award the same year he participated in the Mid-Summer Classic at his home stadium, Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn.

According to Goldin, the bat was one of two constructed for Robinson for the game and indicates “little game use.”

The auctioneer’s representative stated he couldn’t reveal the buyer’s identify.

“I promise that the bat has been in the Robinson family archives from the day it was first used by Jackie,” Robinson’s widow, Rachel, said in a statement released by Goldin.

The bat had previously been displayed in the Robinson household.

While its seven-figure price makes it one of the most valuable pieces of sports memorabilia, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the most expensive baseball bat ever sold at auction is the one used by Babe Ruth to hit the inaugural home run at Yankee Stadium in 1923.