By Tim Richardson
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Thus, it seems Ruth and Wagner have more in common than being part of the first class inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.
On April 20, a Wagner card sold at auction for $1.2 million, which Fleischer said was a sign that the vintage sports-card market remained strong.
The exact value of the Ruth card is estimated at somewhere between $200,000 and $500,000, but that number could fluctuate based on the card's condition and who is bidding. According to Fleischer, a card in good condition sold at a 2008 auction for $517,000.
The Ruth card is valuable to different people for various reasons. To collectors, it's a unique artifact worth several hundred-thousand dollars. To historians and those whose mission it is to preserve the sanctity of our sports culture, it is a valued treasure that has no price tag.
To Mike Gibbons, executive director of the Babe Ruth Birthplace Foundation, it is the latter. The card signifies an iconic reference point, which links visitors to the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum with the immediate starting point of Ruth's baseball career.
"Babe Ruth is the most important player ever to impact the game of baseball," Gibbons said. "By preserving his rookie card and displaying it to the public for generations to come, the museum hopes to keep the significance of his contributions and impact on our national pastime as dynamic as the day he retired."
For Glenn Davis, the owner of the card, it represents a lasting family bond. His grandfather, Archie, sold newspapers on the streets of Baltimore and collected each of the cards the Baltimore News inserted in the papers in 1914.
"I remember playing with them when I was little," Davis said. "Had I recognized their ultimate value, I probably would have treated them better."
Upon Archie Davis' passing, his son, Richard, inherited the cards, and took them to the museum to be appraised. When he realized how rare the cards were, he loaned them to the museum in 1998, knowing they would be protected. When Richard died, his son, Glenn, chose to leave the cards with the museum. The collection is one of the rarest, as it contains 11 cards from the set.
"I have always felt good knowing that something that my grandfather and father considered worthy of saving is now available for others to enjoy," Davis said. "[The collection] spent 80-plus years sitting in an envelope in a dresser drawer, so it's nice to have it in a more appropriate setting."
The Wagner card, which was released in cigarette packs sold by the American Tobacco Company, has drawn higher bids, and Fleischer said there were between 50 and 60 of those cards in existence. There are thought to be only about a dozen Ruth rookie cards in the market, and Fleischer said the 1914 Baltimore News card stood out as Ruth's first known baseball card.
Ironically, the man who set baseball's single-season home run record is shown on the card as a pitcher. Ruth went 29.2 innings without giving up a run during the World Series, from 1916 to 1918. That record stood until Whitey Ford broke it during the '60s. From 1915-17, Ruth won 65 games, the most by any left-handed pitcher in the majors during that time.
Gibbons said he shared Davis' belief the card deserved to be on display for fans to see.
"Ruth has transcended the realm of sports to become an American cultural icon," Gibbons said. "Our hope is to share the card with audiences across America and beyond through a traveling rookie card display."
Until Gibbons finds a sponsor for such a show, the rare piece of Ruth memorabilia will remain the highlight of the 1914 set, which rests behind protective glass on the second floor of the Baltimore City rowhouse-turned-museum, where Ruth was born in 1895.
Posted April 30, 2012
http://www.pressboxonline.com/blog.cfm?id=4773
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