Babe's bat sells for $1.26M

NEW YORK — Going, going, gone. The massive 46-ounce Louisville Slugger used by Babe Ruth to drill the first home run in Yankee Stadium history was sold for a record $1.26 million yesterday to an unidentified private collector.

The bat, 36 inches of solid ash billed as "The Holy Grail of sports memorabilia," sold after about one minute of high-stakes bidding at Sotheby's auction house. It fetched a Ruthian price above its presale estimate of $1 million, said Sotheby's spokeswoman Lauren Gioia.

The bat was only the third piece of sports memorabilia to break the $1 million mark at auction, joining Mark McGwire's 70th home-run ball ($3 million) and a 1909 Honus Wagner baseball card ($1.265 million), the auction house said. It was the most ever paid for a baseball bat.

Ruth lugged the historic lumber with him to the plate on April 18, 1923, the first game inside "The House That Ruth Built." With 74,000 fans looking on, Ruth christened the new ballpark with a third-inning blast into the right-field bleachers as his New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1.

The bat didn't get out much after Ruth's blast. The Bambino, back in the days when the concept of a million-dollar bat was insanity, donated it to the Los Angeles Evening Herald as the top prize in a high-school home-run-hitting contest.

The barrel still bears Ruth's inscription: "To the Boy Home Run King of Los Angeles, 'Babe' Ruth, N.Y. May 7, 1923." One month later, high-school slugger Victor Orsatti was presented with the bat; he kept it until his death 61 years later.

The bat was willed to Orsatti's caretaker, who stored it under her bed until putting it up for auction.

M's update

Class A player Jeremy Dutton and the Tacoma Rainiers were named the Mariners' 2004 John Ellis Award winners for community involvement.

The Mariners also announced that most of their minor-league coaching staff will remain unchanged from last season. Scott Steinmann, who managed Peoria, takes over at Class A Wisconsin. Dana Williams will manage Peoria.

Notes

• With or without an agreement with Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, baseball appears ready to officially award the Montreal Expos to Washington. Commissioner Bud Selig scheduled a conference call today for a vote by the owners to approve major-league baseball's first relocation in 33 years.

• Pitcher Tim Hudson set a March 1 deadline for the Oakland Athletics to offer him a contract extension, or he plans to leave as a free agent after the 2005 season.

• The Toronto Blue Jays acquired infielder John McDonald from the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named. Toronto also re-signed infielder Frank Menechino to a one-year, $650,000 contract with a club option for 2006.