It was used by Ruth, who was in his second year with the New York Yankees, when he hit his 52nd home run of the season against his former team, the Boston Red Sox, in September 1921.

Ruth hit 59 home runs in a single season that year - a record at the time - although he would better his single-season total in 1927 when he hit 60.

It took 34 years for someone to break that record, with Roger Maris hitting 61 home runs in 1961.

Barry Bonds holds Major League Baseball's current single-season record with 73 homers.

Ruth, who is in the Baseball Hall of Fame, originally gave away the bat to a contest-winning amateur player.

Three of five most expensive baseball bats of all time belonged to Ruth, who won seven World Series titles with the Red Sox and Yankees.

'The Bambino' hit 714 home runs in total, ranking third all-time behind Hank Aaron's 655 and Bonds' 762.

Ruth held that career record for almost 39 years when Aaron broke it in 1974.

Heritage Auctions sold the bat, with Michael Jordan memorabilia also available.

Baseball shoes signed by the basketball legend - who played minor-league baseball following his first retirement from basketball - went for $93,000 (£76,000/€86,000).

Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage, believes Jordan is not quite the most valuable star in sports history.

"Michael Jordan continued his memorabilia hot streak on Friday night with several results that surpassed the pre-auction estimates by jaw-dropping margins," Ivy said.

"But while Jordan is moving up the ranks, Babe Ruth has once again proven he is still the king of sports memorabilia."