On July 14, 1968, right fielder Hank Aaron hit a pitch from San Francisco Giants starter Mike McCormick over the center-field fence at Atlanta Stadium for a three-run homer in the third inning of the Atlanta Braves’ 4-2 victory.

Fifty-five years later, the jersey that Aaron wore when he hit that home run sold for $567,000 in an auction staged by Christie’s and Hunt Auctions that ended this week.

What made the jersey so valuable?

The home run hit by the Mobile native that day was the 500th of his career. At the time, Aaron was the eighth player in Major League history with 500 home runs, joining Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Eddie Matthews and Mel Ott.

Aaron passed all those players and hit 255 more home runs in his career.

The Aaron jersey was part of Selections from the Geddy Lee Collection and Important Baseball Memorabilia, which achieved $6,863,976 in sales.

The most valuable item in the auction was a 1938 Babe Ruth Brooklyn Dodgers road uniform, which went for $882,000.

In addition to the Aaron jersey, several other items in the auction had connections to players from Alabama:

· A baseball glove signed by Satchel Paige sold for $126,000.

· A baseball glove used in games by Willie Mays sold for $39,060.

· A bat signed by Hank Aaron sold for $12,600.

· A baseball signed by Hank Aaron sold for $10,080.

· A baseball signed by Willie Mays sold for $6,300.

· A 1948 photograph of Satchel Paige sold for $3,780.

· A baseball signed by Satchel Paige sold for $3,024.

· A baseball signed by Heinie Manush sold for $1,260.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.