The Yankees bought Babe Ruth from the Red Sox for a $100,000. However, fast-forward nearly 100 years, and a cocktail bearing Ruth’s nickname can now be had for nearly half his total sale price.
Complete with a check signed by “The Bambino” himself.
That deal is available at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City.
According to the New York Post:
Celebrating the opening of its swanky, new Level One ultra-lounge (situated right next to the sports book, which launched last weekend), the gambling spot is offering the ‘Bambino.’ A cocktail going beyond what is in the glass, it begins with a long pour of 1940 Macallan Fine & Rare Vintage Single Malt Scotch Whiskey.
Considering that an entire bottle of the stuff can go for as much as $40,000, Level One sweetens the deal with a couple of non-liquids.
The primary attraction is a $100 check signed by the Babe and made out to his second wife, Claire Merritt. It is drawn on the Big Apple’s Chemical Bank & Trust company (now known as JPMorgan Chase) and was deemed to be in mint condition by PSA, a leading certification company. This past weekend, Ruth’s granddaughter, Linda Ruth Tosetti, saw the check at Level One and confirmed it to be a home run.
Thrown in for good measure is a vintage Victrola, precisely the kind of record player on which Babe, Claire and Linda might have listened to ‘Oh! You Babe Ruth,’ a 1920 ditty written about the great slugger.
The cocktail being made available next to a sports book seems to be a fitting tribute to Ruth, a player known for hard drinking and risk taking. The $40,000 price tag is $15,000 more than Yankee Owners Jacob Ruppert and Tillinghast (why aren’t there more kids named Tillinghast?) Huston paid for Ruth in their initial installment. It’s also amazing to think that $100,000 was considered such a large sum of money at the time, that it had to be split up into four separate payments.
Speaking of amazing, and to further put that number into context, the New York Mets will pay Bobby Bonilla $1.19 million today, and every July 1st until he’s 72 years old.
Mets fans might want to have a drink after considering that. In fact, maybe Mets fans should buy that cocktail…
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn
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