According to Baseball Prospectus, the man with the second-highest contract in baseball history, at $275 million/year, is former New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez—and he’s not even playing anymore (he’ll receive that salary without having to set foot on the field in 2017). The much-maligned infielder spent the majority of his last season in 2016 riding the pine.
Now, compare that to the richest contract ever signed by George Herman “Babe” Ruth, arguably the most famous player ever to don Yankees pinstripes or play the game of baseball. For the 1930-31 season, Ruth earned just $80,000. That’s about $1.1 million in today’s dollars.
Putting that into perspective, though, it was an enormous paycheck for the times, given that America had just fallen into the grips of the Great Depression. Ruth was even earning more than the president of the United States. (According to legend, Ruth famously quipped that he deserved the sum, because he had “a better year than [Hoover] did.”)
That exact contract is now set for auction during Heritage’s Feb. 25-26 sports collectibles auction. It’s expected to exceed $500,000. (At press time, it’s currently at $220,000.)
For more on the item or to place a bid on it, click here. Take a look at an early British news report on the contract (above). See the document up for auction below.
—RealClearLife Staff
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