DALLAS, TX.- The bidding lasted for hours, and when the dust settled early Saturday morning at Heritage Auctions, the New York Yankees pinstripes Roger Maris wore during his legendary 61-home run season realized $1,586,000. Not only is that complete 1961 uniform the most valuable Maris item ever sold at auction, but it was among numerous jerseys, jackets and jewelry to shatter estimates and expectations at Heritage Auctions over the weekend. Collectors worldwide clamored for the history woven into the garments and stamped into the rings worn by legends during their history-book moments.

The Heritage February 22-23 Winter Platinum Night Sports Catalog Auction realized $24,477,537 thanks to more than 2,600 bidders who participated worldwide, led by the Maris jersey that was photo-matched to multiple home-run games during the season Maris topped Babe Ruth’s record and incurred the wrath of fans who didn’t want to accept that he’d accomplished the seemingly impossible. Even commissioner Ford Frick tried to rob Maris of his place in history, insisting that a player could only break Ruth’s home-run record if he did it within 154 games, not the 162 played that season — the reason it took baseball 30 years to officially recognize Maris’ record long plagued by that pesky asterisk.

One of Maris’ jerseys from that season resides in Cooperstown. The uniform sold at Heritage over the weekend spent years on display in the museum at Yankee Stadium. Now, it’s a new record-holder with a new caretaker.

No less significant was the $500,200 realized by the USA track jacket sprinter John Carlos wore when he and teammate Tommie Smith stood atop the Olympics podium and raised their clenched fists in protest toward the Mexico City sky in October 1968.

Smith’s Wilson navy-blue zip-up track jacket has long been displayed in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture. Carlos’ traded his away the morning after he placed third in the 200 meters and appeared in what the International Center of Photography calls “one of the most iconic photographs capturing the struggles of the civil rights movement.”

Carlos hadn’t seen the jacket for more than 50 years, having traded it to a long-distance runner from Senegal hours after he and Smith collected their medals, raised their fists in protest and were told to go home. That runner’s family returned the jacket to Carlos a couple of years ago. The activist-athlete brought it to Heritage, which sparked a prolonged bidding war that saw it sprint far beyond its pre-auction estimate. Carlos has said he will share the proceeds with the family who treated the jacket as though it had “belonged to a king.”

“Roger Maris’ uniform is a tangible reminder of that unforgettable season when baseball was completely reimagined, a time when a record thought to be unbreakable was smashed and the whole narrative of the game was rewritten,” says Chris Ivy, Director of Sports Auctions. “John Carlos’ jacket symbolizes a pivotal moment of courage and protest during the struggle for civil rights. We’re truly thankful to the collectors whose passion for these iconic pieces shows just how deeply sport is intertwined with our history.”

Plaxico Burress’ Super Bowl XLII championship hardware likewise looks like the ring of royalty: The New York Giants wide receiver’s 14-karat gold ring, made by Tiffany & Co., is made of white gold and genuine diamonds. Three Lombardi Trophies representing each of the franchise’s Super Bowl victories adorn the face alongside the diamond-filled “NY” logo and the words “World Champions” in raised text.

Burress’ 13-yard TD catch during the game’s final seconds resulted in one of the biggest upsets in sports history, as the Giants toppled Tom Brady’s heavily favored New England Patriots — and spoiled their chance at becoming the NFL’s only 19-0 team. Burress’ ring went into extended bidding Saturday night at $115,000 — and sold early Sunday morning for $280,600 to become the second-most valuable Super Bowl ring ever sold at auction, behind only the Super Bowl V ring won by Baltimore Colts head coach Don McCafferty, which Heritage sold in 2022 for $300,000.

Collectors also vied for two of the most historic rings in football history, belonging to Green Bay Packers backup quarterback Zeke Bratkowski and consigned by his family. His championship ring from Super Bowl I, a relatively modest piece with a single diamond in the center, realized $118,950, while his ring from Super Bowl II sold for $94,550.

Cards performed well throughout the two-day event, as ever, with a 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente rookie card graded PSA Mint 9, realizing $1,006,500 to stand among the auction’s trio that transcended seven figures. (It was also the card’s third-highest recorded sale, according to Sports Collectors Daily.) A 1910 T210 Old Mill Cigarettes Series 8 Joe Jackson graded SGC Good 2 sold for $378,200. And 24 unopened packs of 1966 Topps Baseball (4th Series) cards authenticated and sealed in the original box by Baseball Card Exchange realized $341,600.

Everywhere you looked, a new record was set: Jackie Robinson’s 1954 Topps card graded PSA Mint 9 sold for $152,500. One of three 1967 Topps cards showcasing Roberto Clemente graded PSA Gem Mint 10 realized $146,400. One of just four Carl Yastrzemski Star Rookie cards from the 1961 Topps set graded PSA Gem Mint 10 sold for $97,600. This will also be the auction remembered for the record set by the black-back 1952 Topps Andy Pafko graded PSA NM-MT 8, which sold for a breathtaking $183,000.

Baseball wasn’t the only sport to score high numbers, either: A 2006 Exquisite Collection Dual Michael Jordan/LeBron James card — signed by both men, containing pieces of game-worn jerseys and numbered 9/23 — realized $237,900. And a 1979 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky rookie card graded PSA Mint 9 sold for $140,300.

But throughout this auction, collectors tussled over the uniforms worn by legends at the beginnings of their hall-of-fame careers, among them Stan Musial’s game-worn and signed St. Louis Cardinals jersey (with the pants) from his rookie season in 1942, when the Cards won their first World Series since 1934, which sold for $317,200. The jersey photo-matched to Pete Maravich’s first season as an LSU Tiger in 1967-68, when the man known as Pistol scored 1,138 points, realized $176,900 in its auction debut. And the Green Bay Packers jersey photo-matched to Paul Hornung’s rookie season of 1957 sold for $103,700 — an auction record for a Packers jersey.

And several old bats still had a few home runs left in them, including Hank Aaron’s game-used and signed Adirondack from his MVP season of 1957, which hammered home a $195,200 result.