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The inscription on the back of the pocket watch commemorating the 25th anniversary of the opening of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Image courtesy of SCP Auctions.

Pocket watch awarded to Babe Ruth tops $650,000 at auction

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
The inscription on the back of the pocket watch commemorating the 25th anniversary of the opening of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Image courtesy of SCP Auctions.
The inscription on the back of the pocket watch commemorating the 25th anniversary of the opening of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Image courtesy of SCP Auctions.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – A gold pocket watch owned by baseball Hall of Famer Babe Ruth has sold for $650,108 at an auction in Southern California.

SCP Auctions said Sunday that the watch was from the 25th anniversary celebration in 1948 of the opening of Yankee Stadium. The stadium came to be dubbed “The House That Ruth Built” because of the number of fans the baseball legend drew to the venue.

SCP says other top sales include a 1965 Sandy Koufax-autographed L.A. Dodgers home jersey worn in a game that fetched $268,664. The auction house says Satchel Paige’s 1971 National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ring set a world record for a baseball-related ring, selling for $259,642.

More than 1,000 sports memorabilia items were sold Sunday for a total of $4.5 million.

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AP-WF-05-18-14 2323GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE

The inscription on the back of the pocket watch commemorating the 25th anniversary of the opening of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Image courtesy of SCP Auctions.
The inscription on the back of the pocket watch commemorating the 25th anniversary of the opening of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Image courtesy of SCP Auctions.
The Longines pocket watch presented to Babe Ruth, which sold for $650,108 on Sunday. Image courtesy of SCP Auctions.
The Longines pocket watch presented to Babe Ruth, which sold for $650,108 on Sunday. Image courtesy of SCP Auctions.