Babe Ruth still money player — on paper

Purse of the Bambino, anyone?

Auction-watchers are expecting another windfall when the Yankees’ copy of the 1919 sales contract — the one that landed them Babe Ruth from the Red Sox — goes up for bid at Lelands.com. The Red Sox version last sold for $996,000 in 2005.

And four other Ruth player contracts — 1918 Red Sox ($1.02 million), 1921-23 Yankees ($537,750), 1931-32 Yankees ($384,000) and 1935 Boston Braves ($360,000) — have raked in $2.3 million in sales the past four years.

Ruth’s combined salary in 21 seasons as a majorleaguer way back then, albeit in much different dollars: $856,850.

Headlines

■ At SportsPickle.com: “Study: NHL Game 7 overtimes now the leading cause of death among Canadians.”

Grab a No. 2 pencil

An Illinois state trooper pulled over ex-NASCAR driver Tony Stewart on I-88 near DeKalb and let him off with a warning for: A) improper lane usage B) bump-drafting C) trading paint

Yogi at the bat

One Cub once famously said, “Let’s play two!” This one said let’s not play at all.

A high-school girls softball game in Wells River, Vt., had to be canceled when a juvenile bear wandered into one of the dugouts and showed no intention of leaving.

Cart blanch

Two players at the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships who used a cart to take a bathroom break were given two-stroke penalties.

So who’s running the show there, Roger Goodell?

Aces wild

A broken pipe caused a large sinkhole to form in front of the Mar-a-Lago Club.

Or, as intrepid publicists there are spinning it, our new one-hole, par-1 golf course.

Chip shots

Chip Kelly has joined ESPN, as a studio analyst for college football and the NFL.

Pundits immediately predicted he’ll break the network record for largest cue cards.

Quote marks

■ Rocanville (Sask.) High School javelin thrower Chris Lonseth, to the nearby Moosomin World-Spectator, after breaking a record that had stood for 59 years: “It feels good to beat something that’s older than dad, even.”

■ Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, on the Kentucky Derby: “They call it ‘The Run for the Roses.’ Which also is what I do when I suddenly realize I’ve forgotten my wife’s birthday.”

■ RJ Currie of SportsDeke. com, on the Ottawa Senators’ 0-6 record in Game 7s: “Even my 1990 VW isn’t that bad in the clutch.”

■ Mike Bianchi of the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel, suggesting three things more intriguing than this year’s NBA playoffs: “1) Rice cakes; 2) Waiting for a YouTube video to buffer; 3) Company meetings.”

■ Brad Dickson of the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald, on the bowler who needed just 86.9 seconds to roll a perfect game: “When I go bowling, it usually takes me at least 20 minutes to find the right ball.”