A Great Rarity: An Unimpeachably Authentic Baseball Inscribed and Signed by Babe Ruth, the Larger Than Life American Hero

It is our first signed baseball in all our decades in this field

 

Babe Ruth has been called an American original, undoubtedly baseball’s first great slugger and the most celebrated athlete of all time. He came to the big leagues as a lefty hurler with the Red Sox, where he won 89 games in six years while setting the World Series record for consecutive scoreless innings. But the Red Sox recognized Ruth’s ability at the plate and began transitioning him to the outfield. In 1918, the Red Sox won their fourth World Series title in seven seasons – Ruth was there for three of them – as Ruth led the American League with 11 home runs while also going 13-7 on the mound. Then in 1919, Ruth set a new single-season record with 29 home runs while recording 113 RBI. He went 9-5 on the mound in his last year with more than two appearances as a pitcher.

In what is likely the most famous transaction in baseball history, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees for $100,000 following the 1919 season. The next season, Ruth hit 54 home runs with 158 runs scored and 135 RBI, setting the baseball world ablaze with his talent. He would top those numbers in 1921 with 59 home runs, 177 runs scored and 457 total bases. The last two numbers still stand as modern era records.

The Sultan of Swat would lead a powerful and renowned New York squad to seven American League pennants and four World Series titles during his 15 years in New York. He led the AL in home runs 12 times, including his record-setting 60 in 1927 – a mark that stood for 34 years. Ruth retired in 1935, ending his 22-year big league career with 714 home runs. His lifetime statistics also include 2,873 hits, 506 doubles, 2,174 runs, 2,214 RBI, a .342 batting average, a .474 on-base percentage and a .690 slugging percentage. “It wasn’t that he hit more home runs than anybody else,” said 1976 Spink Award winner Red Smith, “he hit them better, higher, farther, with more theatrical timing and a more flamboyant flourish.” Among Ruth’s other remarkable offensive achievements include leading the league in slugging percentage 13 times, bases on balls 11 times, on-base percentage 10 times, runs scored eight times and runs batted in five times. One of the first five electees to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Ruth once said, “The fans would rather see me hit one homer to right than three doubles to left.” Ruth and his Yankees became legendary, and his name is instantly recognizable to everyone, regardless of their interest in sports.

Ruth was equally formidable as a person; he was larger than life. He had an outsize off-field appetites for food, drink, and women. Stories of his excessive appetites for food and drink are legion, with a friend relating that he had seen Ruth eat a dozen hot dogs in one sitting. That same friend related that Ruth was rarely satisfied with one woman per night, often taking on a number to his personal knowledge. A reporter was invited by Ruth into his hotel room, where Ruth poured him a large whisky. The reporter questioned the wisdom of drinking so close to the game. ‘Well, Goddamn it,’ said Ruth. ‘Last night we killed a bottle of Scotch between us, and I had two home runs today.”

Babe Ruth signed baseballs are iconic, but so often plagued with authenticity problems that we have always avoided them. Recently we were contacted by a man whose aunt worked in the building where Ruth lived at 110 Riverside Drive in New York City. It was his last residence. She got Ruth to sign a baseball for her nephew, with a nice long inscription – handwriting sample – to reassure even the greatest skeptic. We have just acquired the signed ball from the nephew, and are proud to present it to our clients. It is inscribed and signed, “To Kenneth Veit, from Babe Ruth. 6/23/47.”

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to obtain a Ruth signed baseball with extraordinary provenance.