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1915 Boston Red Sox Real-Photo Team Postcard with Babe Ruth (Rookie) - Newly Discovered Example!
Sold For:
$78,000
Year: 1915
Auction: 2017 Fall
Lot #: 5
Auction: Prewar Baseball - 1910s and 1920s Cards
Presented is a newly discovered example of one of the great treasures of all Babe Ruth cards and all baseball postcards: the classic "American League Champions" 1915 real-photo postcard of the Boston Red Sox dating from Babe Ruth's rookie season. Graded VG-EX 4 by PSA. The postcard pictures the Boston Red Sox in a posed team photo, including Babe Ruth, who is seen standing in the back row. Each member of the club is identified in print atop his image, including Tris Speaker, Harry Hooper, Joe Wood, and manager Bill Carrigan. "The Boston Red Sox - American League Champions - Season 1915" appears in white letters below. This postcard has long been recognized as one of the premier baseball postcards in the collecting world, as well as representing one of the very few cards which can truly lay claim to being Babe Ruth's rookie card. In addition to its great rarity, this may be the very first card featuring Babe Ruth with the Boston Red Sox in the Major Leagues. (The traditional M101-4/5 card of Ruth dates from 1916.) This card, which is one of only approximately a dozen known examples just recently surfaced in the collection of a longtime postcard collector. Its rarity notwithstanding, the offered example represents one of the finest examples we have seen. Visually, from the front, the card is Ex-Mint to Near Mint in appearance. The card has not been addressed or mailed; however, a tiny crease can be seen on the reverse (only from the reverse), as can a minor abrasion, both of which resulted in its assigned grade. It should be noted that we see evidence of erased writing on the reverse of the card along the top border, which we brought to PSA's attention. They do stand by the assigned grade. This is truly a stunning example of one of Ruth's most important cards, and one that would be among the highlights of even the most advanced baseball-card or baseball-postcard collections. Reserve $10,000. Estimate (open).