The bat used by legendary baseball player Babe Ruth to hit his 500th home run has been sold at auction for more than one million US dollars.

SCP Auctions did not identify the buyer at the sale in Laguna Niguel, California.

Ruth hit his 500th homer on August 11 1929, in a game against the Cleveland Indians.

According to SCP Auctions, the ball cleared the right field wall at League Park and rolled down Lexington Avenue.

Babe Ruth Bat
New York Yankees’ Babe Ruth takes a big swing (AP)

Ruth was the first of just 27 Major League Baseball players to reach that mark.

He gave the autographed bat to his friend, former Suffern, New York, mayor Jim Rice, in the 1940s.

It has been in the family for nearly 75 years.

Another Ruth bat used to hit the first home run out of Yankee Stadium in 1923 sold for nearly 1.3 million US dollars in 2004.