Several years ago I had the opportunity to spend time with a family member of a baseball legend.

Linda Ruth Tosetti is the granddaughter of Babe Ruth.

She is considered a leading authority on his life and times, and even bears a striking resemblance to the famous Bambino.

For two years in a row, we spent time together as guests of a Union County civic festival. We got to know each other.

We hit it off from the start because we have common interests, we are exactly the same age and share a love of history.

She told me family stories about The Babe and shared details about his life, tidbits which the public generally doesn’t know.

She also spoke of her ongoing work to see Major League Baseball retire her grandfather’s number 3.

Linda was fascinated to see my 1890 Victorian highwheel and wanted to know more. So I explained the historical significance of the riding machine.

I told her it was the first invention to allow man to use his own power to travel far distance over land.

Simply put, it replaced the horse.

I also told her I’m concerned that highwheels will completely vanish from the scene in the not-too-distant future.

They are just too dangerous to ride and the younger generation isn’t interested in keeping the tradition alive.

To my surprise, she insisted on getting up onto the saddle.

She accomplished this by using a nearby folding chair, aided by a few of us to make sure she didn’t fall.

I was impressed by her fearlessness.

“I see you take after The Babe.”

Days later she emailed me.

“Thank you for your patience with your bike. Always wondered what it looked like up there.”

The Babe likely never rode a highwheel. But he definitely was intrigued by bicycles.

His parents couldn’t afford to buy one, so he borrowed one for his first ride.

He took it around a ballpark at Fayetteville and then crashed.

It probably helped him to decide that his future was in the sport of baseball not bikes.

I took photos of Linda when she jumped onto the seat, We became major league friends and kept in touch.

Later, she and I spoke about the passage of time and how everything seems to change, whether for better or worse.

Just recently, I learned that change has happened with Linda, too. I noticed she gave an interview about a major decision she made.

Turns out, she sold the family collection of Babe Ruth memorabilia.

She sent it to an auction house with some of the proceeds to benefit charity.

Part of the reason to part with it was safety. She said she and her husband didn’t want to worry about fire or theft. Thieves are becoming bolder.

“We live in the country, and it’s vogue now to hit country houses because they don’t have police departments,” she said. “It’s not safe anymore. Or we would go away and think, what if there’s a fire? We really are sleeping better now that the stuff isn’t here anymore.”

Still, it must have been very difficult for her to make that decision. Those items were a tangible link to her grandfather.

Incidentally, one particular Babe Ruth souvenir — not owned by Linda — is now being called the most expensive sports item in the world.

It’s the legendary “called shot jersey.”

The Babe wore it during the 1932 World Series when he stepped to the plate, gestured toward the outfield, and slammed the next pitch over the wall.

The jersey was owned by the son of one of his golfing buddies.

Last year it was sold by Heritage Auctions in Dallas and set a record, fetching a high bid of $24.1 million.

“In the realm of sports collectibles, this is the greatest sports collectible of all time,” said Chris Ivy of Heritage Auctions.

It remains unclear if the jersey ever will be accessible to the public or put on display in a museum.

The buyer has insisted on remaining anonymous.